Dictoria Ibtstor^ of the
Counties of Enolanfc
EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A.
A HISTORY OF
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
VOLUME II
THE
VICTORIA HISTORY
OF THE COUNTIES
OF ENGLAND
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE
AND COMPANY LIMITED
This History is issued to Subscribers only
By Archibald Constable & Company Limited and.
printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode Limited
H.M. Printers of London
INSCRIBED
TO THE MEMORY OF
HER LATE MAJESTY
QUEEN VICTORIA
WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE
THE TITLE TO AND
ACCEPTED THE
DEDICATION OF
THIS HISTORY
THE
VICTORIA HISTORY
OF THE COUNTY OF
BUCKINGHAM
EDITED BY
WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A
VOLUME TWO
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE
AND COMPANY LIMITED
1908
DA
670
Bs Ve
v/,2
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO
PACI
Dedication ............... v
Contents ............... ix
List of Illustrations and Map* . xiii
Editorial Note .............. iv
Romano-British Buckinghamshire . By Miss S. S. SMITH, Oxford Honours School of Eng-
lish Literature ....... i
Ancient Earthworks . . . .By GEORGE CLINCH, F.S.A. SCOT., F.G.S. . . .21
Social and Economic History . . By Miss C. JAMISON, Oxford Honours School of
Modern History . . . . . . -37
Table of Population, 1801-1901 By GEORGE S. MINCHIN 94
Industries By Miss C. JAMISON, Oxford Honours School of
Modern History
Introduction ...... ....... 103
Lace-making .............. 106
Wooden Ware and Chair-making . . . . . . . . . .109
Paper-making ... 1 1 1
Tanning and Shoe-making . . . . . . . . . . .112
Straw-plaiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 1 1 3
Bricks, Tiles, and Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . -114
Bell- Foundries . . . . (By ALFRED HINEAGI COCKS, M.A., F.S A.) . .116
Iron-Foundries, Shipbuilding, and
Railway Works ............ .126
Needle-making -1*7
Textile Industries ........... . .128
Forestry By the REV. J. C Cox, LL.D., F.S.A. . . .131
Schools By A. F. LEACH, M.A., F.S.A.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . '. . -145
Eton College 147
The Royal Latin School, Buck-
ingham 207
Royal Grammar School, High
Wycombe . 210
Stony Stratford Grammar School . . . . . . . . . .212
Amersham Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . .213
Sir William Borlase's School,
Marlow . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Aylesbury Grammar School . . . . . . . . . . .215
Wycombe Abbey School . . . . . . . . . . . .216
The County High School for
Girls, High Wycombe 217
Wolverton County School . . . . . . . . . . ...218
Elementary Schools founded
before 1 800 v . . . .218
ix i •>
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO
Sport Ancient and Modern . . Edited by E. D. CUMING
Foxhounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
The Old Berkeley Hunt . By O. P. SEROCOLD 223
The Whaddon Chase . . By E. D. CUMING 227
Stag Hunting .... „ ........ 228
The Royal Buckhounds 228
Lord Rothschild's Stag-
hounds . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Earl Carrington's Blood-
hounds . ............. 229
Harriers. . . . By E. D. CUMING ....... 229
Beagles ..... „ ........ 230
Otterhounds .... „ ........ 230
Coursing. . . . By J. W. BOURNE ....... 230
Racing . . . . . By E. D. CUMING . . . . . . .230
Flat Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . .230
Steeplechasing . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
Shooting . . . . -By COL. ALFRED GILBEV, J.P. . . . . -233
Angling By C. H. COOK, M.A 236
Cricket . . . . -By SIR HOME GORDON, BART. ..... 239
Golf By A. J. ROBERTSON ...... 240
Rowing (Henley Regatta) . . By THEODORE A. COOK, M.A., F.S.A. . . . 240
Athletics . . . . By J. E. FOWLER-DIXON . . . . . .243
Topography ..... General descriptions and manorial descents compiled
under the superintendence of the General Editor ;
Architectural descriptions by J. MURRAY KENDALL
and S. F. BECKE LANE, under the superintendence of
C. R. PEERS, M.A., F.S.A. ; Heraldic drawings and
blazon by the REV. E. E. DORLING, M.A.; Charities,
from information supplied by J. W. OWSLEY, I.S.O.,
late Official Trustee of Charitable Funds
The Three Hundreds of Aylesbury General descriptions and manorial descents by Miss
(Risborough, Stone, Aylesbury) C. JAMISON, Oxford Honours School of Modern
History
Introduction ............. 245
Risborough Hundred 247
Bledlow with Bledlow
Ridge . . . . 247
Horsenden . . . . . . . . . . . -253
Monks Risborough ........... 256
Princes Risborough ........... 26o
Stone Hundred ............. 367
Cuddington . 267
Dinton with Ford and
Upton . . 271
Haddenham . . ... ... 281
Great Hampden 2g7
Little Hampden . . . 291
x
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO
PACK
Topography (continueJ)
The Three Hundreds of Aylesbury (cmAnueif)
Stone Hundred (cuitixueJ)
Hartwell 293
Great Kimble • 298
Little Kimble 303
Stone 307
Aylesbury Hundred 31*
Alton Clinton . . 312
Bierton (with Broughton) . . . . . . . . . .3x0
Buckland . . • 327
EIle»borough 331
Halton 339
Hulcott 342
Lee . . 345
Great Missenden . (By Miss M. E. SEEBOHU, Hist. Tripos) . . . 347
Little Missenden . ( „ ) . . 354
Stoke Mandeville 360
Weston Turville 365
XI
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PACK
High Wycombe. By A. R. QUINTON . Fnnt'ufiece
Romano-British Buckinghamshire : —
Little Brickhill : Plan 5
Castle Thorpe : Armillae 6
Crendon : Sarcophagus containing three Urns ........ 7
Great Horwood : Silver Spoon, &c. ...... full-page plate, facing 8
Latimer : Plan of Roman Villa ........... 9
Stone : Plan showing Sites of Roman Remains ........ IO
„ Sections of a Cavity containing Roman Remains . . . . . . 1 1
Tingewick : Plan of Roman Foundations . . . . . . . . .13
„ Roman Objects . . . . . . . . . . 14
ft »> i» ...........15
Wycombe : Plan of Roman Settlement . . . . . . . . .16
„ „ Town, showing Roman Sites . . . . . . . .17
„ „ Roman Villa . . .18
Ancient Earthworks : —
Bow Brickhill : ' Danesborough ' .......... SI
Cholesbury Camp ............. 23
Hedgerley : Bulstrode Park 25
Monks Risborough : Pulpit Wood . . . . . . . . . 2 5
West Wycombe ............. 26
Castle Thorpe 27
High Wycombe : Castle Hill 28
Little Kimble : Cymbeline's Mount . . . . . . . . . .28
Typical Examples of Homestead Moats in Buckinghamshire . . . . . .31
Great Missendcn : Camp in Bray's Wood . . . . . . . . -33
Industries : —
Inscriptions, &c., on Bells ........... 120-4
Topography : —
Bledlow Church : Plan 250
The Tower from the South . . . )
„ A Capital in the South Arcade of the Nave \ ' **** #*>*** * 5 •
Monks Risborough Church : Plan . 258
„ „ „ Interior looking East . . . full-page plate, facing 258
Princes Risborough : The Market Place 261
„ „ Church Street 263
„ „ Church : Window in South Aisle . )
I . full-page plate, facmg 266
„ „ Panelling in the Manor House . J
Cuddington Church from the South-east ......... 268
Plan . 269
xiii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Topography (continued)
Dinton Hall : The Staircase .272
„ Upper Waldridge ............ 273
„ Church : South Doorway of Nave
„ ... -, . , „ • full-page plate, facing 278
Cuddmgton : Tynngham House . . )
Haddenham Church from the South-east . . . . . . . . .282
Great Hampden ; Hampden House : The I4th-Century Doorway . )
™ \ TK w i v w I fM-page plate, facing 288
„ Church : The Nave looking West . . . J
Little Hampden Church : The North Porch . . . . . . . .292
Hartwell House : The Entrance Front ......... 293
„ „ Entrance Porch on North Front . )
PTL i«_ • r • full-page plate, facing 294
„ „ The Tapestry Room . . . )
„ » Plan ... ...... 295
Great Kimble : I Jin-Century Building now used as a Barn ...... 298
Stone Church : Plan . . . . . . . . . . . .310
>, „ North Arcade of Nave ..... full-page plate, facing 310
Aston Clinton Church : The Sedilia . )
Bierton Church : Nave looking East . } ' ' J&+V t**,fi**g 3i«
„ „ from the North . . . . . . . . . .320
» „ Plan ............ 325
Ellesborough Church : Croke Monument )
Hulcott Church: South Aisle looking West } ' ' fa»-P*t' Placing ^(>
„ Stairs of the Manor House ...... full-page plate, facing 342
Little Missenden Church from the South-east . . . . . . . -354
„ „ The Manor House from the Churchyard . . . . . -356
„ „ Church : Plan . . . . . . . . . . -358
Great Missenden Church : Nave looking East ")
Stoke Mandeville Church : Interior looking East j ' ' fa1'^' P^te, facing 362
Weston Turville Church : The Font . . )
„..._,.}• . . . full-page plate, facing 370
„ „ „ Piscina in Chancel J
i, ,, „ from the South-east . . . . . . . .371
LIST OF MAPS
Roman Map . ............ faf;a& ,
Ancient Earthworks Map ............. 21
Index Map to the Hundreds of Buckinghamshire ........ „ 245
» » Three Hundreds of Aylesbury (Stone, Risborough, and Aylesbury) . . 246
xiv
EDITORIAL NOTE
THE Editor wishes to express his indebtedness to Prof. F.
Haverfield, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A., for reading the proofs
of the article on the Romano-British Remains of the
county ; to the late Mr. I. Chalkley Gould, F.S.A., for
suggestions regarding the article on Earthworks ; to
Mr. William Crouch, clerk of the peace of the county,
and Mr. A. J. Clarke, town clerk of High Wycombe,
for information supplied to the author of the article on
the Social and Economic History ; to the Earl Howe,
G.C.V.O. ; Mr. G. Laurence Gommc, F.S.A. ; Mr. A.
Heneage Cocks, M.A., F.S.A. ; Rev. G. Blamire Brown,
M.A. ; Mr. A. E. W. Charsley ; Lieut.-Colonel L. E.
Goodall, D.L., J.P. ; Mr. A. Lasenby Liberty, D.L.,
J.P. ; and Mr. W. Rose for information as to the history
and descent of manors, and to Mr. A. Heneage Cocks
and the proprietors of the Reliquary for illustrations.
XV
A HISTORY OF
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
KOMAN MAP
OF
BUCKINGHAM
o
OXFORD
Reference HenleyonThan.es
I Villages &.cA denoting permanent
A Villas &.c: J civilized occupation.
4- Burial.
• Miscellaneous Finds ; not generally denoting civilized occupation. WindsorJ
-^ Roman Roads.
" Doubtful RofTv&n Roads.
ROMANO-BRITISH
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
THE county of Buckingham partakes of the essential characteristics
of the midland counties, and shares in that lack of striking phy-
sical features which especially marks this part of England. It is
traversed by no great rivers or high hills, the Chilterns consti-
tuting its highest range, and, with the exception of the extreme southern
border where the River Thames divides the county from Berkshire, is
unusually artificial in the position of its boundaries. Hence, taken as an
item in the Roman Province of Britain, it is comparatively unimportant. It
is difficult in describing its Roman remains to satisfy the demands which a
county history necessarily makes, and to separate the county district from
surrounding areas, or to evolve any history of these remains. Buckingham-
shire constituted in Roman times a small district in that part of Britain which
may be described as the Lowlands. The greater Roman highways for the
most part run outside the county. It is only in the extreme north-east that
one of these traverses it, and that only for a few miles, where Watling Street
runs through Fenny Stratford and Stony Stratford. As a natural corollary
to this, there were no towns of any importance throughout the district,
nothing, in fact, larger than the posting station at Magiovintum on Watling
Street. The Roman remains for the most part participate in the undistin-
guished character of the physical features of the county, and there is very
little which can throw light on the character and customs of the former
inhabitants.
With the exception of a few isolated sites, at Olney in the extreme
north, at Mentmore in the east, and at High Wycombe, Latimer, and Great
Missenden in the south, these remains fall into lines along the course of the
roads or tracks in the county.
Thus, we have those near to the course of Watling Street, at Stony
Stratford, Shenley, and a little distance from it, at Haversham and Castle
Thorpe. There is another rough line of remains along the modern road
passing through Buckingham and Fenny Stratford, consisting of those at
Buckingham, Thornborough, Whaddon Chase, Bletchley, and Fenny Strat-
ford, which last stands on Watling Street.
The third line constitutes the Roman branch-way from Alcester to
Magiovintum and passes through Bicester, Steeple Claydon, and Winslow,
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
terminating at Little Brickhill ; and the last line follows the course of the
British way which runs in two parallel lines known as the Upper and Lower
Icknield Way.
With regard to these remains there are two facts to be specially
noticed. There are no traces of military occupation. There are few villas,
and these, where they do occur, are unimportant, and lie away from the
track of the roads.
The villas are insignificant in character, few in number, and, as would
be expected from their position in the district, show no signs of wealth or
luxury. They point rather to habitation by a poor people whose occupation
was chiefly pastoral, as would be expected in low-lying lands. The traces of
any local industry are extremely scanty, consisting simply of three isolated
relics — the melting crucible and compasses at Tingewick, the steelyard weight
at Haversham, and the kiln at Stone — and these indicate the satisfaction of
individual needs rather than the establishment of any general industry.
The villa at High Wycombe and the burial, apparently that of a woman, at
Weston Turville alone raise doubts concerning the theory as to the poverty of
the inhabitants of this district. The villa, by its size, and the burial, in the
costly character of some of the relics, point to wealth possessed by the owners
of two individual properties. Probably the valley of High Wycombe, in
which the villa was situated, tended to the production at least of agricultural
wealth.
The one great exception to the general lack of individual interest or
importance is the pit at Stone. This is quite unusual in its characteristics
(vuk Index). The orderly nature of the remains found within it, together
with the shape of the pit, has led many archaeologists to the conclusion
that it was made especially for purposes of sepulture, and was not merely a
rubbish hole, as are the majority of the somewhat similar pits which have
now and again been described as sepulchral. It has been thought, indeed,
to have been a rough columbarium, resembling in its general attributes those
at Rome. It is compared by Akerman l with the pits at Ewell, near Epsom,
and others in the Isle of Thanet.
THE ROADS
Watling Street. — Of the four great Roman roads mentioned in the Itinerary
of Antoninus, only one passes through Buckinghamshire. This is given in
the Itinerary as running from Luguvallium (Carlisle) ad portum Ritupis (Rich-
borough). Of this road the part between Uriconium (Wroxeter) and Rich-
borough is generally known as Watling Street, and the part which here
concerns us is that small portion running from Durocobrivae (Dunstable) to
Lactodurum (Towcester), across a part of Buckinghamshire which can only
be called its north-eastern protuberance. The Roman character of this road
is testified with much certainty, both by literary and archaeological evidence.
The distances given in the Itinerary — from Lactodurum XII m.p.m., from
Magiovintum XVII m.p.m., from Durocobrivae XII m.p.m. — coincide with
the distances between the modern Towcester, Little Brickhill, and Dunstable.
1 Arch, rxxii, 451.
2
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
For once antiquaries are in agreement as to its course, which Lysons* de-
scribes in the following passage : —
The Waiting Street enters the county with the modern Irish Road, at the 42nd mile-
stone, and proceeds perfectly straight through Little Brickhill, Fenny Stratford and Stony
Stratford, at which last town it crosses the Ouse into Northamptonshire ; all traces of the
Roman causeway are of course obliterated by the present turnpike road, but no doubt seems
to be entertained of its line, whatever difference of opinion there may be in determining
the sites of the Itinerary stations upon it.
Though all actual traces of the Roman causeway may have been obliter-
ated, there exists almost certain evidence of its course, in the straight boundary
line between the parishes which lie along the route between Little Brickhill
and Stony Stratford. Moreover, the names Stony Stratford, Fenny Stratford,
and Old Stratford speak of a Roman origin. The archaeological evidence is
further strengthened by the discovery of what are certainly Roman remains at
these places ; of foundations in the Auld Fields near Fenny Stratford, of an
: urn and bust of Roman workmanship at Little Brickhill, and the remains of a
villa, and an urn containing silver plates, etc., near Stony Stratford.
But though there can be no question as to the course of Watling Street
through the county, yet there has been much dispute with regard to the
position of the Itinerary stations upon it. First as to Lactodurum. There
can be little real doubt that the modern Towcester is built upon the site of
this Roman station. But again and again we hear that Stony Stratford marks
the site, and Stukeley, with his usual ingenuity, has derived the name Stony
Stratford from ' Lactorodum,' which he takes as the name of the Roman
station.
From Lactodurum we pass on to Magiovintum and Durocobrivae.
With regard to these there can be little doubt that the Roman stations were
at or near the modern Fenny Stratford and Dunstable, respectively, a con-
clusion which has been well worked out by Akerman.8 Indeed, it is only
by placing the sites thus that the distances can be made to coincide with the
distances given in the Itinerary. As to the precise situation of Magiovintum,
however, many surmises have been raised, and Fenny Stratford and Little
Brickhill have run the gauntlet of antiquarian opinion. Fenny Stratford
has usually had the pre-eminence, for Leland, alone, of the antiquaries before
the present century, places Magiovintum at Little Brickhill. It seems now
better established, however, that Magiovintum should be placed at or near
Little Brickhill, and that the site near Fenny Stratford has less probability.
The other Roman, or possibly Roman, roads are four in number, and are
for the most part merely branch roads.
Road from Bicester to Towcester, or to a point "within some little distance of it.* —
This road, starting from Alcester, runs north-east and south-west between
Fringford and Stratton Audley, through Newton Purcell, and enters Buck-
inghamshire a little to the north of Barton Hartshorn.
Here it becomes coincident with the north-west boundary of the county,
proceeds to Little Tingewick, where its course is marked by a villa and a
' M agna Britannia, i, 483. ' Jrtb. xxvii, 96.
4 Dr. Plot, Nat. Hist. ofOxon. x, I 3 ; Stukeley, I tin. Curioium, 18, 21, &c. ; Rec. of Bucks. (Arch. Soc. of
Bucks.), iv, 154; Burgess, Raman Roads in Bucks.; Lytons, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 483 ; O.S. xxvii, NE. SE.,
etc. ; f.C.H. ttorthants. i.
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
considerable number of remains. From here it passes to Water Stratford
where the name again testifies to Roman origin, runs near Stowe, leaves the
county near Lillingstone Lovell apparently on its way to Towcester, the
Lactodurum of the Romans, where, or near where, it joins the Watlmg
Street.
Road from Grandborough to Akeman Street.* — Mr. Haverfield has called
attention to a possible road which would probably run into the Akeman
Street. It began near to where the Claydon brook forks close to the Grand-
borough Road Station and followed probably the line of a boundary between
the parishes of Grandborough and Hogsham to the place where the roads
from Grandborough village, Grandborough Road Station, and Waddesdon
meet. It thence follows the road to Waddesdon for about four miles, forming
the boundary of various parishes.
Akeman Street. — This road runs from Alcester, where it is joined by
another road (also called Akeman Street) which runs from Alcester to Ciren-
cester. There are branches of the Akeman Street given by Stukeley and
Dr. Plot, but little probability can be attached to these branch roads. Akeman
Street proceeds by way of Waddesdon into Buckinghamshire, running
through Aylesbury,6 where Roman coins have been discovered. There it
takes a straight course through Aston Clinton and leaves the county west
of Tring.
The Icknield Way. — It is fairly certain that this road must be considered
of British extraction. In its general character it is quite unlike a Roman
road.7 Mr. Haverfield thinks that some portion of it was employed as a road
by the Romans, but that it was not Roman in its origin (i-in. O.S. Bucks.,
237. 238).
TOPOGRAPHICAL INDEX
ASTON CLINTON. — A Roman amphora was discovered in the spring of 1871 on the Vetches Farm.
It was buried on its side in the large field immediately opposite the farm-house, about 2 ft.
from the surface, filled with burnt wood and earth. It is 2 ft. 10 in. in height, 2 ft. 10 in. in
circumference, and is now in the possession of Mr. W. L. Lutton, of North Church [Rec. of
Bucks, iv, 147 ; Bucks. 25-in. O.S. xxxiv.]. Near Aston Hill is the supposed site of a
Roman or British encampment. In a cottage garden, not many years ago, a coin of
Vespasian (A.D. 70-9) and one of Hadrian (A. D. 117-38) were discovered. They are now in
the possession of Mr. Fowler, of the ' White Hart,' Aylesbury.
AYLESBURY. — Roman pottery, spindles, etc., were dug up in Granville Street ; they are now ex-
hibited in the museum at Aylesbury. Silver and copper coins were also shown in the Loan
Exhibition at Buckingham, 1855 [Catalogue in Rec. of Bucks, i].
BIERTON. — Part of a large urn 15 in. in diameter, 12 in. in depth, said to be Roman, was dis-
covered here 3 ft. from the surface. It was imperfectly burnt, and had a rude attempt at orna-
mentation. Human remains and coins were found in a field to the west of the Red Lion Inn
[Rec. of Bucks, iv, 224]. Human remains and Roman urns were also found in a garden on the
east side of a road to the east of the Red Lion Inn [25~in. O.S. xxviii, 2].
BLETCHLEY. — At the Dove Cote Farm, on the Shenley estate, near Bletchley, portions of a tessellated
pavement, bricks and other indications of a Roman villa were discovered by Mr. Grimwood
[Haverfield, ' Quarterly Notes on Roman Brit.' Antlq. xxxvii].
BRICKHILL, LITTLE. — Near Fenny Stratford in the parish of Little Brickhill a small intaglio (ex-
hibited by Mr. Byles, of Boxmoor Station), of pale cornelian, of oval form and small size,
' Bucks, i -in. O.S. 219, 237.
6 Burgess, 'Roman Roads in Bucks.' ; Rec. of Bucks. (Bucks. Arch. Soc.), iv, 154.
' For discussion as to the name vide V.C.H. Norf. i, 287. It crosses the Wading Street at Dunstable,
enters Buckinghamshire a little to the north-west of Dagnall, and is to be clearly traced as far as Ivinghoe.
Thence to Little Kimble, where there is a Roman villa and other remains, its course can only be conjectured,
but from Little Kimble to Bledlow, where it leaves the county, it is again clear.
4
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
engraved with a figure of Jupiter, his right hand extended and his left holding a sceptre, with
an eagle at his feet, was found with an early bronze fibula made in one piece, and a plain
armilla [Proc. Sac. Antiq. (Ser. 2), ii, 60]. The station of Magiovintum has been placed by the
concurrent opinions of antiquaries at Fenny Stratford [Proc. Sac. Antiq. i, 246 ; otherwise, Arch,
xxvii, 96], a conclusion which Mr. Pretty of Northampton thinks is confirmed by the dis-
covery of numerous Roman coins and other remains in its vicinity, more particularly in certain
fields adjoining to and in the neighbourhood of the White Hart Inn ; chief among these were
the figure of an eagle discovered on Little Heath, and coins of Severus Alexander (A.D. 222-
35) ; two third brass of Gordianus Pius (A.D. 238) ; Postumus (A.D. 258-68) ; Tetricus (A.D.
268-73); Valens (A.D. 364-78) ; Claudius Gothicus (A.D. 268-70) [Rtc. of Bucks, v, 154 ; MS.
Min. Soc. Antiq. xxv, 126. Inf. supplied by Mr. W. Bradbrook] ; also a bust of Roman
workmanship [Arch, xxvii, 96]. ' At Fenny Stratford in a place called the Auld-Fields,' says
Lysons, ' foundations of buildings have been found as well as coins' [Hist. Bucks. 483]. The
site of the Roman station of Magiovintum has been placed with more probability at Little
Brickhill on the Watling Street, a short distance from Fenny Stratford.
BRILL. — Roman coins were discovered 14 December 1758 [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. viii, 98].
There is a square entrenchment described as a ' Roman Camp ' on Muswell Hill [Bucks.
6-in. O.S. xxvi, SE.]. Camden [Brit, ii, 330 (ed. Gough, 1722)] mentions Cold Harbour
fford
8 6
PLAN or LITTLE BRICKHILL
Farm, north-east of Brill, as the site of a Roman town, and he is quoted to this effect by
Stukeley, but there seems no evidence to warrant such a statement, and the name does not
necessarily imply a Roman connexion [Bucks, i-in. O.S. 237].
BUCKINGHAM. — Many Roman coins have been dug up in the vicinity of Buckingham ; a coin of
Antoninus (A.D. 138-61) in 1819 [Lipscomb, Bucks, ii, 547], and in 1741 a copper coin of
Carausius (A.D. 287-93) [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. iv, 56]. Pottery, coins, implements and
ornaments from Grove Hill Farm, discovered in 1875, were also exhibited at the Loan
Exhibition, Aylesbury, July 1905, by Mr. T. Gardner [Catalogue of Loan Exhibition].
CADMORB END. — In 1877 five Roman coins were discovered here, of Titus (A.D. 79-81), Domitian
(A.D. 81-96), Trajan (A.D. 98-117), Hadrian (A.D. 117-38), Faustina (A.D. 138-41), re-
spectively. They were exhibited in the Loan Exhibition at Aylesbury 1905, by the Rev. R.
Bruce Dickson of Stewkley [Catalogue of Loan Exhibition].
CASTLE THORPE. — In a field called Burtles Hill was found a small black urn containing a pair of
armillae and a silver ring, with twenty silver and about twenty-five large brass coins of the
Upper Empire, ranging from Nero (A.D. 54-68) to Verus (A.D. 166-70), one being a coin of
Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138-61) with Britannia reverse. The coins are now in the possession of
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Mr. F. H. Hughes [Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ. ii, 352-3 ; Num. Chron. vii, pi. iv.] Bracelets
of the pattern illustrated have been found more than once in England, and can be dated with
precision. They are of base silver, with the terminals slightly expanded to represent serpents
heads, and the hoop engraved with geometrical designs. The serpents' heads may have had
som; religious significance [cf. gold specimen from Backworth, Northumberland, Arch. Journ.
viii, 39]. They were originally in the
Bateman Collection, Lomberdale House,
Derbyshire, but are now in the Bri-
tish Museum. Similar bracelets have
been found near Carlswark, Derbyshire
[Jewitt, Reliq. viii, 113], at Ham
Saltings, Upchurch, Kent, now in the
British Museum with part of another
from Coldham Common, Cambs. [Payne,
Collectanea Cantiana, 74]. The ring
which is set with a cornelian intaglio is
of a type common about A.D. 200
[Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. ii, 35 ; Bate-
man Coll., Lomberdale House, Catalogue,
130-1 ; Reliq. xiii, pi. xviii]. Though
a skull and pottery fragments were later
ARMILLAE FROM CASTLE THORPE found on the site, this deposit of about
A.D. 1 70 was evidently a hoard un-
connected with any burial. Mr. Pretty of Northampton, who recorded the find, added that
there was probably a villa at Calverton End near Castle Thorpe, a fact which he deduced from
the discovery of pottery there. Professor Haverfield, however, considers that this is inconclu-
sive. Mr. Pretty's additional note on the subject of the Portway Lane in Castle Thorpe
drew attention to the fact that the name Port does not imply a Roman origin.
COLNBROOK. — Camden [Brit. 327 (ed. Gough, 1722)] wrongly identifies Colnbrook with the
Ponies of Antoninus, because it is at equal distance on both sides from Wallingford and
London, and here the Coin is divided into four channels, which, for the convenience of
travellers, have as many bridges over them [Reynolds, Iter. Brit. (1848), 340].
CRENDON or LONG CRENDON. — In the year 1824 labourers, digging in a field at the north side of
the church near a road named the Angle Way, found the remains of a cemetery near the
supposed site of the castle of the Giffards. The field which contained these remains is of stone
brash, in which each of the urns discovered was embedded separately. The principal objects
found were an urn described as of blue clay, unglazed ; a small portion of another urn, of
large size, 3 ft. in height, diameter at brim 6 in., with handles 5 in. in circumference, joined
to the neck and body of the vessel, which was of coarse yellowish ware, with a reddish tint.
It was quite plain, had the marks of the lathe perfect, and appeared to have been coated with
varnish. Besides ashes and burnt bones, including those of birds, there were also found seven
rings of brass, so much decayed that the stones set in most of them were corroded and de-
stroyed. Two of these had portions of wire attached to them and might have been ear
pendants. There were also found a number of small urns ; eight paterae of Samian ware, each
6J in. in diameter, i£ in. deep, having a small rim ; one stamped OF. L. Q. VIRIL. ; a small
incense pot of the same fabric formed in two half circles, the larger above the smaller, and,
intersecting it, with a circular stamp or cipher at the bottom ; a lamp quite perfect and of
the same ware ; a small sarcophagus containing three small urns all perfect [Lipscomb, Bucks.
i, 212 ; C. R. Smith, Coll. Antiq. iv, 155 ; Letter from G. Lipscomb, Gent. Mag. (1831)].
There was also found at a later date near the site of the former discoveries a pot of small
Roman coins, some of Claudius (A.D. 41-54). The greater number were much corroded. It
is probable that this group of remains is of Roman date, but a further note of Lipscomb
points to the fact that a Saxon interment was made on the site of the Roman one, as some of
the remains which he indicates could not have been Roman. He adds: ' Many skeletons
were found regularly interred, and near them abundant and satisfactory indications of crema-
tion and urn burial ; great quantities of ashes, scoriae and semi-vitrified masses, together with
vast numbers of fragments of urns and other vessels, bones of large quadrupeds and of birds
promiscuously intermingled.'
ELLESBOROUGH. — Foundations of buildings [Lysons, Bucks. 483] and Roman coins have been found
here [Lipscomb, Bucks, ii, 171. Vide Little Kimble].
ETON. — A Roman vase was discovered in 1863-4, 507 yds. north of Barnes Pool Bridge, a little to
the west of the main road from Windsor to Slough. A Roman urn, 21 in. high, and the same
6
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
in extreme diameter was discovered in 1890 about 18 in. below the surface of a field at
Willowbrook, a little to the north of Eton on the way to Slough flnf from Mr
R. P. L. Booker, M.A., F.S.A.].
FOSCOTT. — The following remains from a supposed Roman villa at Foscott were exhibited at the
Loan Exhibition at Buckingham in 1855, by the Rev. W. Lloyd of Lillingstone. Hypocaust
tiles, bone spoons, pin, part of bone pipe, a bronze socket, glass and pottery fragments, a piece
of oak pile, and some glass, also fragments of tessellated pavement [Catalogue of Exhibition,
Rec. of Bucks, i].
HAVERSHAM. — A Roman steelyard weight in form of a woman's head was ploughed up in the parish
of Haversham near Newport Pagnell [Bucks. N. and Q. (1901), 228; Proc. Soc. Antiq.
(Ser. 2), v, 13]. Roman
coins have also been found
here, one a first brass
of Marcus Aurelius (A.D.
l6l-8o) [Journ. Brit.
Arch. Assoc. ii, 355]. Mr.
Pretty of Northampton,
who notes the discovery
of the coins, adds that it
is a significant fact that
the coins found on the
Buckingham side of the
River Tove, among which
those at Haversham are
included, are generally of
earlier date than those
discovered at Cosgrove,
Old Stratford, and Paulers-
pury.
HEDSOR. — The remains of pile
dwellings were discovered
here in 1894, but the ob-
jects accompanying then1,
e.g. spear heads and the
bones of animals, point
to a prc-Roman origin
[Journ Brit. Arch. Assoc.
(Ser. 2), v, 267]. Simi-
lar dwellings have been
found at Cookham in
Berkshire, which is near
Hedsor ]f.C.H. Berks, i,
198, 205].
HITCH AM. — A Roman key, to-
gether with Roman coins,
was found near the pre-
sent Bath road \Journ.
Brit. Arch. Assoc. xxxiii,
206 ; xlix, 176].
HORWOOD, GREAT, AND WINS-
LOW. — A silver drinking-
cup of late Roman work,
of a common form in pot-
tery,
but uncommon in
silver, height 4* in., great- SAICOPHACU. CONTA.N.NG TH«. URN, AT CWNDON
est width 2^ in., was
turned up in a field and broken by the ploughshare, so that the fracture revealed other
objects, some of which had been bent in order to put them into the cup : two silver
spoons, very much bent, having oval bowls decorated with a kind of ribbed or feathery
pattern ; one had the inscription VENERIA VIVAS (compare with this a sepulchral inscription
to Lady Veneria in the Museum at Caerleon). Altogether five spoons were found on this
occasion, and a small pin 2$ in. long, with a flat circular head, closely resembling other
7
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Roman pins in bronze ; a small fibula, showing signs of wear, the type of which is rare
in England ; also a silver ring with octagonal exterior and a blank facet \_Rec. of Bucks, iv,
209 ; Arch. Journ. xxxiii, 357].
HUGHENDEN. — In 1826 an urn containing four small silver coins and three copper ones was turned
up in a field near Hazlemere turnpike-gate ; near this deposit was an arch of flints, supported
by two side walls, about the size of a common grave, not more than 3 ft. long. About it were
several broken Roman tiles, pieces of urns, fragments of unburnt pottery and of what appeared
to be part of a quern [Lipscomb, Hist. Bucks, iii, 583]. It has been suggested that this was a
Roman burying-place, but there is not sufficient evidence for such a conclusion. Yet the
remains are not entirely Roman in character, for a battle-axe was also discovered, which points
to a deposit, perhaps a later one, of Saxon origin. A vase, probably Roman, was also dis-
covered in the excavations at Hughenden Vicarage, 1883. This was exhibited at the Loan
Exhibition at Aylesbury, 1905 [Catalogue of Loan Exhibition].
KIMBLE, GREAT. — Great Kimble stands on the higher track known as the Upper Icknield Way,
to which should probably be assigned a British origin, though it is possible that the road was
here used by the Romans. The following remains were found in a barrow and are very
probably British, although described as Romano-British [Proc. Sac. Antiq. (Ser. 2), xii, 340] :
two urns, the larger of the two in an inverted position with the smaller one resting on its
shoulder, 17 in. in height, containing white powder and a small perforated vessel, which was
possibly an incense cup, these were buried in a shallow grave in the chalk. The lower part
of the grave was covered with black ashes. Lipscomb [Hist. Bucks, ii, 341] also speaks of a
square camp commanding the track of the Icknield Way, on the brow of the hill, south of the
church, at the north-west corner of Pulpit Wood.
KIMBLE, LITTLE. — The remains possibly of a Roman villa were discovered here. Fragments of a
small tessellated pavement were found near the turnpike road, laid in mortar, measuring 4 ft. by
3 ft. Foundations of flint were discovered at the same time, and in the adjoining fields near Great
Kimble, Roman tiles and coins have been occasionally found, and buckles, rings, tiles, tesserae,
and painted plaster, fragments of which were exhibited at the Loan Exhibition at Buckingham,
1855 \_Rec. of Bucks, i, 39; Ibid. 'Catalogue of Exhibition']. The three sites of Great
Kimble, Little Kimble, and Ellesborough are in such close proximity that it is possible the
three together formed one settlement.
LATIMER. — A little to the south-west of Latimer, which is situated on the road from Chenies to
Chesham, is Dell Farm, shut in on two sides by Lane Wood and West Wood. On this
spot there is a slightly-elevated mound, in which Roman tesserae were discovered in 1 834 by
workmen who were employed in diverting the road here, which originally ran between the farm-
house and the river. A few yards to the north-west were four human skeletons with coins
and fragments of earthen vessels deposited near them, which were taken away by a stranger.
The following account of later discoveries is given by the Rev. Bryant Burgess \_Rec. of Bucks.
iii, no. 5, pp. 181-5]. '^n ^63 numerous tesserae of various sizes, pieces of tile and mortar,
with the peculiar pink tinge which is characteristic of Roman manufacture, were found lying
by the side of the road where it was cut thrpugh the mound, and at three inches below the
level of the road a tessellated pavement of coarse red ware.'
Excavations were made in 1864 and are described by Mr. Bryant Burgess. From his
description it appears that a portion of a villa of the corridor type was disclosed, comprising a
range of rooms with a corridor on the north-west 8 ft. 6 in. wide (3, 5 on plan). The corridor
was divided by a wall and doorway, to the south-west of which it ran for 34 ft. and was paved
with flat tiles 16 in. by 12 in., and to the north-east it was traced for 39 ft. and was paved with
red tesserae. There was probably a corridor on the opposite side of the range of rooms, as
fragments of a tessellated floor were discovered at ay a, a, on plan. Room i (see plan)
measured 19 ft. 6 in. by 22 ft. ; the tesserae in the room were I J in. square. The walls were
plastered, and the part remaining was coloured a dull red, but pieces of plaster were found in
the room painted white with a red or green stripe, and some of three different colours. The floor
here, as in the other rooms, was covered with a black powder of decayed wood, with which iron
nails from i^ in. to 5 in. in length were intermingled ; above this was a mass of broken ridge
and flanged tiles, together with large flints and mortar, evidently the remains of the rafters and
roof-tiles. These would perhaps point to the villa having fallen to decay and not having
been destroyed. Room 2, which was 19 ft. 6 in. in length by 9 ft. 3 in. in breadth, com-
municated with room i by a doorway 5 ft. wide, and also by another doorway to room 4.
Possibly it was a vestibule, as it had a doorway 6 ft. wide through the north-east wall. The
floor was of concrete. Room 4 was 19 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. It was paved with red tesserae, and
contained a considerable quantity of broken pottery and charred wood. Upon the south-west
wall were the remains of colour. Rooms 6 and 10 were only partially traced. A few tesserae
SILVER SPOONS, ETC. FROM GREAT HORWOOD
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
were found in one corner of each, but the ground had been lowered at a previous date and the
floor destroyed. Room No. 7 formed a passage 5 ft. 5 in. wide, with a step at the entrance to
the north-west corridor. It was paved with red tesserae. Room 8 was 19 ft. 6 in. by 1 8 ft. 9 in.
The wall on the south-east was scarcely traceable, but the other walls were in good condition
to the height of i8in. The pavement, the middle of which was destroyed, was of white
tesserae for a width of 27 in. from the wall ; the interior, so far as it remained, had the usual
red pavement, but in the three corners it was continued for some inches into the border.
Room 9 measured 19 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. 9 in. ; the tesserae of the pavement were mostly red,
with a few white, yellow, and black, which in some cases adhered together in an orna-
mental pattern as they had been laid. Room 1 1 was probably a passage. Another range of
buildings extended to the north-west of room 5, and at f there was a mass of rubble wall with tile
courses, which was traced to a depth of 4 ft. Here a number of small bones of a cat or rabbit
were found. The following articles were found in the villa : — Two brass coins of Constantino
the Great (A.D. 306-37) ; a brazen or copper coin of Tetricus (A.D. 268-73) ; a small British
coin of brass, possibly of the age of Tetricus ; a pin of ivory or very hard bone, carved, in
perfect preservation, except the point, measuring 3-^5 in. ; another pin, of darker colour, and
finer workmanship, imperfect ; a great deal of broken pottery, with a few pieces of Castor
and Samian ware ; a piece of stag's horn ; oyster shells and whelks, the former in considerable
PLAN OF ROMAN VILLA DISCOVERED AT LATIMEK. Scale 20 ft. to I in.
quantities ; pointed pieces of iron, "]\ in. and \\ in. in length ; pieces of lead and a large
quantity of iron nails ; a small piece of a glass vessel and fragments of window-glass ; flue-tiles,
mostly broken, measuring 15^ in. by i6Jin. by 4^ in., one nearly perfect, ornamented on two
sides with a pattern, the rest merely scored on the wider side with a comb ; flanged roof-tiles,
measuring 16 in. by 12 in. at the broader and lojin. at the narrower end, but the measure-
ments vary considerably in different tiles ; these, together with ridge-tiles measuring about
15 in. by 7^ in. by i£ in. were found mostly in a broken state, overlying the pavements in all
parts of the building [Rec. of Bucks, iii (5), 181, et seq.].
LEE. — Roman remains from Bray's Wood, near Lee, were exhibited at the Loan Exhibition
at Buckingham, July 1855. There is a square entrenchment at Bray's Wood [Bucks. 6-in.
O.S. xxxviii, NE. ; Rec. of Bucks, vi, 297 ; Lipscomb, Bucks, ii, 359].
MARLOW. — On 4 May 1780 two small bronze human figures, supposed to be of women, were
found near Marlow [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xvii, 37]. In February 1779 a bronze Roman
fibula was also found near here [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xvi, 213].
MENTMORE. — Remains were discovered here which possibly indicate a Saxon interment on a Roman
site, though the coins, which are the only indication of a Roman origin, may have accompanied
the Saxon burial [Prac. Soc. Antiq. iii, 72]. In 1852 there were found a spear -head (obviously
a Saxon relic), a bronze clasp, a coin of Constans or Constantius, several bones of animals,
and Roman coins [Bucks. 6-in. O.S. xxiv, SE.]. At a date previous to this a cup-shaped
fibula and an ' ornament probably from a soldier's belt ' were revealed [drch. xxxv, 380].
2 9 2
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
MISSENDEN, GREAT. — Fragments of Roman pottery have been dug up to the south-east of the village
[Rec. of Bucks, vi, 297].
NASH LEE. — At this place is said to be the site of a Roman villa [6-in. O.S. Bucks, xxxiii, SE.
par. Ellesborough]. The following extract is given in the Name Book of the original Ordnance
Survey of Buckinghamshire, dated 1896-8 : — ' No visible remains of this ancient building now
exist, but undoubted evidence of its former existence were discovered by the late G. S. Stone,
Esq. In the month of September 1858 the foundations of a Roman Villa, together with Roman
tiles and pieces of Roman pottery, including the greater portion of two urns and two bronze
coins, one on the foundation and the other a short distance off, were discovered by this gentle-
man and presented by him to the Bucks. Archaeological Society.'
OAKLEY. — Roman pottery and coins were found in a field on Ixhill Farm, midway between Oakley
and Worminghall, also part of a flue-tile. In 1892 excavations were made to remove some
large stones which interfered with ploughing, and several cart-loads of stone were dug up and
removed, which, it has been suggested, point to the existence of some Roman building here
[Journ. of the Berks. Bucks, and Oxon. Assoc. iv, 46].
OLNEY. — Silver coins were found in the neighbourhood between the Lavendon and Warrington
Roads in a field called Ashfurlongs, north of Olney ; three of Gratian (A.D. 375-84) or
Gallienus (A.D. 253-68), Victorinus (A.D. 265-7), and Allectus (293-6), respectively,
still remain at Olney [jfourn. Brit. Arch. Assoc. iii, 255 ; 25-in. O.S. ii, 16]. In the Journ.
of the Berks. Bucks, and Oxon. Assoc. (April 1904, p. 26) are mentioned coins dating from Nero
(A.D. 54-68) to Constantino (A.D. 306-37). One fragment of Samian, some gray and black
ware, and a bronze figure of Mercury were also found.
PRINCES RISBOROUGH. — ' Coins have been found at Princes Risborough ' [Lysons, Bucks. 483], and
others were discovered on Risborough Top, Chiltern Hills, three-quarters of a mile east of
Princes Risborough [25-in. O.S. xxxvii, 7].
STEEPLE CLAYDON. — 'In 1620 an earthen pot full of brass money bearing the stamp, name, and
picture, some of Carausius (A.D. 287-93), some of Allectus (293-6) was found under the
root of a tree ... by the great pond there in the wood of the worthy knight Sir Thomas
Challoner ' [White Kennet, Paroch. Antiq. Bucks, ii, 419].
STONE. — Many antiquities, probably from a Roman cemetery, have been found here. On the north
side of the road, immediately opposite the vicarage, in December 1 87 1, a natural hill of sand was
excavated, and what was apparently a Roman kiln, in the shape of a basin, lined with burnt
clay, 4 ft. in diameter inside, 2^ ft. in depth, the top i ft. from the surface, therefore whole
depth 3^ ft., was found. It was filled with sand, charcoal, and a great quantity of coarse broken
SCALE. 6 '" I MILE .
MILE.
PLAN OP STONE, SHOWING SITES OF ROMAN REMAINS
10
NORTH t» SOUTH
EAST h WEST
NATURAL
SURTACC
BASEMENT
ROCK
YELLOW
SAND
5 10
SECTIONS or A CAVITY CONTAINING ROMAN REMAINS, FOUND AT
STONE, BUCKS.
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
pottery [Rtc. of Bucks, iv, 122 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (Ser. 2), ii, 116]. A pit or well
was discovered in the field where the County Lunatic Asylum now stands. At a depth of 8 ft.
the workmen came to a stratum of hard blue stone, a foot in thickness, through which a circular
hole had been made. Im-
mediately beneath a chamber
was found in which were dis-
covered many fragments of
cinerary urns made of dark
slate-coloured clay, some of
which contained human
bones, the bones of some
large animal, and portions
of burnt oak and beech.
Through the centre of the
chamber the perpendicular
shaft was continued for 1 1 ft.
to another and thicker stra-
tum of rock. Beneath this,
again, a second chamber was
discovered and cleared out.
The contents were similar,
with the addition of the skull,
teeth, and one horn of an
ox, a portion of skin, tanned
and preserved by the action
of the sulphurous acid of
the blue clay below, and
wood burnt, unburnt and partially consumed, twelve urns of various forms and sizes, two
bronze rings, apparently formed for armillat, of the rudest construction, 2j in. in diameter,
and a bucket with iron hoops and elects for the handle, which could not be found. About
50 yds. north-west of the pit, 2 ft. below the surface, were a double-handled urn, one of smaller
size, an urn with a single handle, and a smaller one of dark clay. Thirty yards south-west of
the pit were several fragments of urns, 2 ft. below the surface, of the coarsest fabric [Journ.
Brit. Arch. Assoc. xx, 276-7 ; Arch, xxxiv, 26 ; xlvi, 447 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. ii, 101 ; Arch.
Journ. viii, 95]. Near the same spot were two coins in middle brass of Domitian (A.D. 81-96)
(reverse, fig. of Spes) and Vespasian (A.D. 70-9) (reverse, altar between letters S.C.).
STONY STRATFORD. — A Roman villa has been discovered in the parish of Paulerspury near Stony
Stratford, close to the course ofWatling Street. In 1850 it was recorded that 'a fine tessellated
pavement is already cleared ' \lllm. Land. News, 1850, i, 214]. It has perhaps been sufficiently
proved that Towcester, and not Stony Stratford, occupies the site of Lactodurum, though the
opinion hitherto held by the majority of antiquaries was that the latter marked the site of the
Roman town. An urn found in 1835 was exhibited in the Loan Exhibition at Aylesbury,
1905. In 1789 Roman silver plates and other articles in silver and brass were found in an
urn at Windmill Field near Stony Stratford [MS. Min. Soc. Antiq. xxxiii, 306, June 1813].
Lysons describes them in the MS. Minutes as ' a considerable number of plates of silver, of a base
quality in form of leaves, much resembling those at Barkway, together with many other articles
of silver and brass of various shapes,' and suggests that they were parts of Roman military
standards. Lysons states that the following inscription is on one of the silver plates, which,
though very slightly cut, may be read thus : —
DEO IOVI ET VOLGA
VASSINVS
CVM VELLINT
ME CONSACRATVM
CONSERVAAE PRO
MISI DENARIOS SEX
PRO VOTO
The remainder of the last line is obliterated except the final three letters, which seem to be
LIT. Drawings, together with the most remarkable of the antiquities, were exhibited to the
Society of Antiquaries. The originals are now in the British Museum and have been copied
by Prof. Hubncr (Corp. Inter. Lot. vii, Nos. 80, 81, 82). Lysons mentions a thin piece of
brass worked in a conical form with several appendages of the same metal fastened to it with
II
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
chains, which he suggests was fixed at the top of the staff. Other objects he describes as
possibly ' the pi/ae, sometimes styled circuit, and clypei, which are said by Isidorus to have been
just added by Augustus.' These were of brass, with apparently plates of silver soldered to
them on one side. They were soldered together, and probably had rings by which they
were suspended to the staff. Several thin plates of silver in the form of leaves were found,
two of which had scratched on them an inscription, which may be read DEO MARTI SANCTO,
and others had figures of Mars standing in front of a temple, Mars and Victory, and Apollo.
Two brass fibulae were found at the same time.
TAPLOW. — In a mound or barrow near the old parish church objects in gold, silver, bronze, glass,
and pottery were found. They were of Anglo-Saxon date, except some slight early remains
of Samian and other pottery [Proc. Sue. Antiq. (Ser. 2), x, 19 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Asm. xl, 63,
an].
THORNBOROUGH. — Bronze vases, a cinerary urn of glass, a bronze lamp with a crescent on the
handle resembling one found near Halesworth in Suffolk, and other remains were discovered
in a tumulus on the estate of the Duke of Buckingham, and exhibited at the Loan Exhibition
at Buckingham by the Hon. Richard Neville [Arch. Journ. vii, 82 ; xii, 276].
TINGEWICK. — The remains of a Roman villa were found in the parish of Tingewick, which lies
about two miles westward from Buckingham, and near to the ancient road from Bicester,
through Stratton Audley and Water Stratford in the direction of Towcester. The field in
which the discoveries were made is called ' Stollidge,' and is more than a quarter of a mile
from the village. The foundations stood on the brow of a hill, which slopes in a north-
westerly direction towards the River Ouse, about a quarter of a mile below Tingewick Mill,
a situation unusual for the Romans, who generally chose a southern slope. The first discovery
was made in 1860, and the excavation was continued in 1862. The foundations had in places
been disturbed, and were too fragmentary to give a complete plan of the building ; but from
the plan and description made at the time the main building seems to have been a villa of the
corridor type, lying east and west, the corridor running along the north side. The total
length of the house was about 93 ft., and the width 27 ft., inside measurements, the rooms being
about 12 ft. wide, and the walls about 2 ft. thick. To the south of this building, about
106 ft. away, was a smaller one, measuring externally 22 ft. 4 in. by 12 ft. It was divided into
two apartments, the larger of which, to the west, measured 1 1 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft. 6 in., and had
walls on the south and west sides 18 in. to 20 in. thick, and on the north 12 in. thick. The
smaller apartment was divided into two, the larger part of which was 6 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 10 in.,
and the smaller 3 ft. loin, by i ft. loin. The latter, which was apparently a tank, was
surrounded by strong masonry, on the south 18 in., on the east 2 ft. loin., on the north 2 ft.,
and on the west 3 ft. thick. The floor, which was 1 7 in. below the ground level, was, together with
the sides, plastered with mortar said to be hardened by fire. It had a moulding 2^ in. wide carried
round the bottom, and a drain or flue 5^ in. by 6 in., sunk a little below the level, and passing
through the outer wall in the lowest course of the foundation, the top of the drain being
formed by one tile 15 in. long by i^ in. thick. The drain, on passing out of the building,
curved in a westerly direction and ran down the hill. The floor of the larger apartment was
paved with tiles, and was 13 in. below the bottom of the tank and 2 ft. 6 in. below the prob-
able level of the smaller apartment. A number of flue-tiles were found within and with-
out the walls, which suggested to Mr. Beesley the idea that this small building was a bath ;
but it seems more likely to have been a workshop of some kind, possibly a part of one of the
small dye-works which seem to have been a feature of Roman Britain. Southward of the drain
above mentioned, about 42 ft. distant, were traces of another drain or ditch running parallel to
it. About 78 ft. westward of the corridor house was a third drain on the slope of the hill, which
is said to have contained several circular holes or rubbish pits, which were excavated to a depth of
about 120 ft. From this last ditch the greater number of the antiquities was taken. They are
very numerous, comprising broken pottery, floor, roof, and other tiles, bones of animals, iron nails,
coins, and implements ; and also earthenware vessels. In one part of the field a large quantity
of dark-coloured earth was found, and this yielded several objects of interest. Amongst others
were found close to the smaller building, a pair of bronze compasses (fig. i) in perfect preserva-
tion, 6£ in. long, which work on a nail as a pivot or axis, the pointed or sharp end of the nail
projecting half an inch on the side opposite to the head or nut, and having the point bent
downwards ; portions of bronze armillae (fig;. 2 to 7) ; part of necklace (fig. 8), made of
rings of silver wire, ornamented with glass beads, the rings, each consisting of two coils of
fine wire, set alternately, two and three together, divided by small beads of dark blue glass.
The fragment is 3 in. in length, and the clasp at one end perfect. There were found also the
pin of a. fibula (tig. 9), 4 in. in length, and formerly gilt, a very similar bronze pin from Wood-
perry, Oxon., may be compared with this [Arch. Journ. (1846), iii, 120]; a bronze ring with
12
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
hoop and two links of wire chain broken (fig. 10) ; part of a clasp, or snap (fig. 1 1), bronze,
formerly gilded, which seems to have belonged to a belt ; a triangular piece of bronze (fig. 12),
the surface and edges, which are rough, appear to have been plated with gold, probably part
of some ornament; two bronze rings (figs. 13, 14); the bone handle of a knife (fig. 15);
a fragment of a bone armilla or bracelet (fig. 16) ; a bone pin, broken at both ends (fig. 17) ;
a comb formed of several pieces of bone riveted together with bronze fastenings, it was quite
perfect when discovered ; a flat piece of bone nearly square, with a small hole perforated at each
of the four corners ; portions of iron cutlery or knives ; a bronze knife ; an iron ladle ; the
head of a small iron spear ; an iron arrow head, and other iron objects.
Besides these were discovered a large iron ladle for melting metal, a lump of molten lead,
another of bronze, pieces of charcoal, a large quantity of nails, an iron spindle, several bronze
styles or pins, a key, numerous fragments of Stonesfield slate used for the roofs, some of them
having the nails by which they were fastened to the timber still remaining on them, and a
piece of Andernach lava, which, from its shape, may have formed the keystone of an arch, or
was possibly part of a quern. The fragments of pottery were very numerous, though
PLAN OF ROMAN FOUNDATION! AT TINGIWICK
'3
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
no complete articles were found, and none were large enough for the investigators to
distinguish the shape, size, and ornamentation of the vessels to which they belonged. Among
them were several fragments of amphorae of large size, in coarse light red ware, and
of mortaria, one of which was roughened with iron scoriae. There was only one piece of
Samian ware. One fragment of a crucible of blacklead ware like those used by metallurgists,
was found. A few pieces of glass were found, yellower in colour than the usual Roman glass.
In addition to these antiquities thirty-nine coins were discovered, singly distributed throughout
the field, ranging in date from Elagabalus (A.D. 218-22) to Theodosius (A.D. 379-95).
WAVENDON HEATH. — An amphora was found in a sand-pit [Lysons, Bucks. 483].
ROMAN OBJECTS FOUND AT TINGEWICK
14
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
WESTON TURVILLE. — Remains of a Roman burial were discovered here in 1855 [Arch. Jaurn. xxxv,
290 ; lllut. Land, News, 21 July 1855]. In the rectory garden, at a depth of 4 ft. 6 in. below
the surface, a Roman vessel of coarse yellow pottery was found, which bore traces of old
fractures, probably either an amphora or a cinerary urn. It was placed in a hole i8in. in
diameter, in cretaceous clay, very tenacious and impervious to water ; the contiguous clay was
streaked with dark lines. The accompanying objects were in glass : a bluish-green circular
vessel, with pieces of bone adhering to it 5 a green glass vessel, 6 in. in height, 2^ in. square,
m. 17
ROMAN OBJECTS POUND AT TINCEWICK
'5
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
which contained ashes ; a similar vessel, 2f in. square, of which only the bottom was found,
containing ashes ; a vessel of thinner glass, of lighter green, 3 in. square. A patera of Samian
ware, nearly entire, more than 2 in. high, diameter 7 in., potter's mark MVXTVLLIM,
containing ashes and leaves; another patera, if in. high, 6^ in. in diameter; a cup with the
potter's name, MEIII. M., nearly 2 in. in height, 4^ in. in diameter, if in. at bottom,
was also found, and some silver beads with wire attached to them ; with them were an orna-
ment like a bugle in shape, ^ in. long ; a._fibu/a, or brooch, in bronze ; and a bronze ornament
1 in. high, like a fly ; also a vessel of coarse light red pottery, with the neck broken off, 7 in. in
height, largest diameter 4 in., containing ashes ; vessels in drab-coloured ware, one ornamented
with an imperfect cross-barred pattern, height rather more than 3^ in., diameter 3 in. ; another,
probably about 9 in. or 10 in. high, diameter 5^ in. ; a third, more than 2^ in. in height, in
diameter not quite 2 in. Besides these there were ornaments and various articles : iron with
rivets, and short nails with fibres of wood adhering to them ; fibulae; a segment of a circular plate
in silvery bronze, perhaps part of a mirror or circular _/%«/,?; part of a pin with ornamented head,
2 in. long, in coloured bone ; part of a plain bone pin, 3 in. long ; a small piece of leather with
nails in it. Probably these were the remains of a female burial.
WHADDON CHASE. — In February 1849 coins, together with the fragments of an urn or earthen
vessel, were discovered by a labourer while ploughing a portion of Whaddon Chase, but it is
doubtful if the coins were Roman. About three hundred and twenty of the coins were
preserved. It is said that none were inscribed ; about a quarter of them were stamped with
the figure of a horse unbridled, the reverse was a wreath dividing the field, while one division
was filled by a flower. The average weight of the coins was 90 grains Troy \Rec. of Bucks.
i, 15]. Our authority states that 'further search in a part of the adjacent chase yet uncleared
led to the discovery of a very perfect Roman camp, inclosing an area of about five acres.'
*»* "^> f-*
*****!&&
N.I ,-;- r
VN1«:»-"-'-"" MARSH GREEN I \\
"
ANCIENT _.,,...„..
COINS FOUrtO
* KEEP HIUU
PLAN OF ROMAN SETTLEMENT NEAR WYCOMBE
16
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
of wheels' still
two feet thick,
be unusual with
would probably
WORMINGHALL. — A Constant in :':m bronze coin found here was exhibited in the Loan Exhibition at
Aylesbury, July 1905, by Mr. R. VV. Stone of Long Crendon [Catalogue of the Exhibition].
WYCOMBE. — There seems to have been a Roman settlement here of some importance. A tessel-
lated pavement was discovered in 1724 in Penn Mead at the west end of a pasture called the
Rye, about half a mile from Wycombe. According to a record of the time it was 'set in
curious figures, as circles, squares, diamond squares, eight squares, hearts, and many other
curious figures, with a beast in the centre in a circle, like a dog standing sideways by a tree,1
all set with stones in red, black, yellow, and white, about a quarter of an inch square ; the
whole pavement was about fourteen foot square, the fine work in the middle was ten foot long
and eight foot broad, the rest was filled up with Roman brickabout an inch and a half square.' In
1 862 excavations were made on the site at the expense of the late Lord Carrington, and under the
supervision of Mr. E. J. Payne and Mr. William Burgess. It is difficult to follow the lines of the
building disclosed from the plan of these excavations that has been preserved, but the villa was only
partially explored. Mr. Payne in his paper on the excavations, and Mr. Parker following him
in his History of Wycombe, describe a portion of a range of buildings, to the south-east of which
were found two apartments 1 8 ft. apart. These are described as towers forming an entrance
to the range of buildings before mentioned, south-west of which were found other living rooms.
The suggestion as to the towers is improbable, notwithstanding the assertion that 'traces
remain in the wall connecting them. The walls, which are only about
are not strong enough for towers, and fortification of this nature would
the Romano-Britons. If complete excavations of the site were made they
show that the rooms and walls discovered formed portions of a courtyard
type of house of the Romano-British period.
The principal part uncovered was apparently the north-western range, which comprised
an inner and outer corridor with a series of apartments between them. The large room at the
north-eastern end of the north-western range had a tessellated pavement at its south-western
end, which has been thus described : it consisted of a ' square flanked by two oblongs. To the
south-west of this were other tessellated pavements, one with the remains of a design in very
fine tesserae ; to the south-east of this was another room, the floor of which was destroyed and
the pilot of the hypocaust exposed." A small apartment at the south-western end of the range,
which is shown by Mr. Parker, but not by Mr. Payne, is supposed by the former to be that
discovered in 1724. In the south-eastern range were the two rooms paved with common red
tesserae which have been described as
towers, and southward of these were
other remains which were only par-
tially explored, consisting of a large
apartment with a hypocaust and the
ruins of pilot mixed with pieces of
pavement of guilloche pattern. Ad-
joining this was found what Mr.
Parker describes as without doubt the
bath, with a pavement of white
tesserae about an inch square, and a
margin of red tesserae. The walls
were decorated with paintings, a 'part
of a fish resembling a roach ' being
seen. Remains of other walls were
found which were possibly on the
line of the inner corridor. Among the
objects brought to light were an arrow
head, two bone pins, a bronze steel-
yard similar to one found at Circn-
cester, and many fragments of pottery.
The designs of the pavements were
worked in very fine tesserae, described
as no larger than peas, indicating
probably good work and an early date.
Near to these villas is the site of an
ancient camp, in which eleven ancient
British gold coins have been found. PLAN or TOWN OF WYCOMBE, »HOWING ROMAN SITES
1 This central subject, Mr. John Parker suggests, is Cave Caaem, but we may with more probability sup-
pose that it represented some mythological incident.
2 '7 3
PIAN OF ROMAN VILLA AT WVCOMBE
ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Some Roman tesserae were discovered a little to the north of this villa in a field called Holywell
or Hallewell Mead, which has given rise loan improbable theory that here was a Roman fortress.
A Roman vessel was found in High Street, Wycombe, and Roman coins of Nerva (A.D. 96—7),
Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138-61), and Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-80) have been found in the
neighbourhood, and a Roman wall and tessellated pavements in the garden of a hou-e in All-
hallows Lane, adjoining a house called The Priory, on the west [E. J. Payne, Rec. of Bucks, iii,
no. 5, p. 160 et seq. ; Parker, The Early Hist, and Antiq. of IVycombe, 2, 3], In 1863 a
bronze ornament was discovered, 4^ in. long ; a quadrangular tube with flanges round three
sides of one end, and a bust of Minerva at the other end ; midway on each side of the tube
was a square hole. The workmanship of the head was bold and coarse. Probably it was part
of the pole of a chariot. It is now in the British Museum.
Recent excavations for the Great Western and Great Central Railway Companies in the
neighbourhood of High Wycombe have disclosed Roman coins. One was of the date
A.D. 322. The obverse has a bust to t'le right with the legend CRISPUS NOBIL c. In its
centre the reverse has a decorated altar inscribed VOTIS xx ; around it BEATA TRANQUILLITAS,
and below, p. LOND., indicating a London mint. Another coin of the date A.D. 300 shows
the bust of the Emperor Valerius ; the legend is MAXIMIANVS NOB. c.*s., the reverse a standing
figure representing the genius of the Roman people, with the legend surrounding it CENIO
POPULI ROMANI [Dally Telegraph, 3 Mar. 1904]. A third isolated coin of the 2nd century is
silver. The obverse has a bust of the empress, with face to the right and superscription JULIA
PIA FELIX AVG. ; the reverse has VENVS GENETRIX, with an image of a goddess [Daily Chron.
26 Aug. 1902].
MAP
showing
of
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Reference
B Hill Forts etc.
Rectangular Camps etc .
3 Castle Mounts
Castle Mounts with attached Courts
Homestead Moats
Manorial Strongholds
Ancient Village Sites
Unclassified Earthworks
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
The student of the earthworks of a county, or larger tract of country,
who attempts anything in the way of classification finds his efforts beset with
considerable difficulties. The present form of the ramparts and fosses is a
matter which causes little, if any, trouble, and the plans published in the
maps of the Ordnance Survey (25 in. to the mile) will be found generally
sufficient.
The chief difficulties he encounters are : (i) in ascertaining the respec-
tive ages or periods of the works ; and (2) in discovering to what extent the
earthworks, as originally constructed, have been modified or obliterated.
Without something more than an examination of the surface this is often not
only difficult, but impossible. Under these circumstances the decision of the
Congress of Archaeological Societies to record the remains as they actually
exist, without at present attempting to assign them to any particular period,
is undoubtedly wise. Certain works, such as regular Roman camps and
Norman strongholds, are, of course, sufficiently well marked to be classified.
The present description of the ancient defensive and other earthworks
of Buckinghamshire, which has been written in conformity with this prin-
ciple, will be understood, it is hoped, to be by no means a final or complete
record of these interesting relics of ancient times. Before any such precise
summary can be written it will be necessary to make careful and minute
investigations, aided by extensive excavations of the various sites.
The main divisions of ancient defensive earthworks contemplated in the
scheme of the Congress just referred to are as follows : —
A. — Fortresses partly inaccessible, by reason of precipices, cliffs, or water, additionally defended
by banks or walls.
B. — Fortresses on hill-tops with artificial defences, following the natural line of hill ; or,
though usually on high ground, less dependent on natural slopes for protection.
C. — Rectangular or other simple inclosures, including forts and towns of the Romano-British
period.
D. — Forts consisting only of a mount with encircling ditch or fosse.
E. — Fortified mounts, either artificial or partly natural, with traces of an attached court or
bailey, or of two or more such courts.
F. — Homestead moats, such as abound in some lowland districts, consisting of simple inclosures
formed into artificial islands by water-moats.
G. — Inclosures, mostly rectangular, partaking of the form of F, but protected by stronger
defensive works, ramparted and fossed, and in some instances provided with outworks.
H. — Ancient village sites protected by walls, ramparts, or fosses.
X. — Defensive works which fall under none of these headings.
The ancient defensive earthworks of Buckinghamshire are divisible into
several classes, the earliest hill-top fortifications being closely related to the
Chiltern Hills, a range of chalk downs which, with the exception of the
21
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Thames Valley in the extreme south, occupies practically the whole of
the southern half of the county.
Compared with the earthworks of some other counties the works of
Buckinghamshire are of small extent, and, owing to the wooded character of
the hills, they are less easily seen than they are in such a district as the
South Downs of Sussex, for instance, where the ramparts and fosses are
prominent features, sometimes visible from considerable distances.
In any attempt to take a general survey of the ancient camps of Buck-
inghamshire, it is desirable to bear in mind the important natural features of
the Chiltern Hills, which run across the county in a practically-east-and-west
direction, the hilly ground of the chalk being to the south, and the low-lying
pasturage ground of the Vale of Aylesbury stretching away to the north. The
hills of Buckinghamshire
N. never afforded such an
essentially grazing dis-
trict as the South Downs,
and there was no reason
to construct camps of
large size capable of in-
closing and defending
vast flocks of sheep or
herds of cattle. The
fertile plains of Bucking-
hamshire were appa-
rently brought into cul-
tivation at a time when
this system of protective
inclosure was no longer
in vogue nor necessary.
SCALE Or FEET
O IOO tOO 2>OO
HILL FORTS
(CLASS B)
' DANESBOROUGH,* Bow BRICKHILL
A number of the
Buckinghamshire earth-
works come under this heading owing to the fact that the lines of artificial
defence follow the natural contour of the ground, and are placed at the point
where tolerably level ground or table-land develops into inconvenient or
dangerous declivity.
Bow BRICKHILL : DANESBOROUGH. — This is a rather irregular oval earth-
work consisting of a single rampart, broken by a considerable space on the
north, and damaged from the north-east side by the construction of a modern
road.
CHOLESBURY CAMP. — The form of this camp, as will be seen from the
accompanying plan, is fairly oval, slight irregularities being discernible on
the west and north-west sides.
The camp, locally known as ' the Bury,' occupies a piece of level ground
on the summit of a range of the Chiltern Hills which marks the junction of
the eastern part of Buckinghamshire and the western part of Hertfordshire.
22
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
The works, which encompass an area of about ten acres, inclose the parish
church and churchyard of Cholesbury, which are situated in the south-west
part of the inclosure.
Lipscomb, in his History of Buckinghamshire? writes : —
The lines consist of a very deep trench and strong vallum or rampart of earth, on the
north, east, and part of the south sides, strengthened by a second line at the north-eastern
and north-western angles ; and also from the south-eastern part, in a parallel line along that
side, until it disappears near the churchyard : part of which seems to occupy the inner
bank, as the site of the minister's house does likewise the exterior rampart, which has
evidently been levelled. On the east and west sides or ends of the encampment the foss is
single ; in some places 30 ft. in depth, but towards the south-west it is nearly obliterated.
In those parts where the trench is double, the width is about equal to the depth ; and the
,^>
'//
dr $z »v
jJ* ^cr >»$ c- ,-
/ ^// ^n
& = £ ** // £?
- - -* = s ^ o$?
&/f
Church - Pond ^^ ^f^
*:-?.* A* <f$
1 ' ~1~ >>* v»> v^ v*-
s.i~"--z n.. —u P^^W ->.^ »VL«V
-^•;
»XSt
SCALE Of FEET
o \oo too soo
CHOLESBURY CAMP
rampart between them, as well as the sides of the ditches and verge exteriorly, are covered
with trees and brushwood, excepting only where a narrow approach to the area has been
left on the south and west. About the centre of the north side appears to have been
another opening, but long disused, so as to have become obscured by trees and bushes ; and
now, only to be conjectured one of the original entrances.
Lipscomb speaks subsequently of the camp as an oblong square, an
opinion formed apparently by his misunderstanding of the addition to
the north-west corner of the camp already alluded to. The fosses on the
southern side of the camp are of considerable depth, and the curve they
follow is determined apparently by the natural contour of the hill. On the
1 (1847) iii, 314. The camp is regarded by Lipscomb as of British or Danish workmanship.
23
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
north side the contiguous ground is nearly on a level with the area inclosed
by the vallum : but on the east and west, where the trench is single but of
great depth, it declines rapidly. On the south, where are two fosses, the
ground immediately contiguous is nearly on a level with the entrenchment,
but soon gradually declines. Along this part of the camp is the course of
an ancient road.
The general conclusions formed by Lipscomb from his examination of
the camp are that it is a work of Danish origin,3 and that originally it was
constructed as a single vallum round the top of an eminence, advantage
having been taken of the irregularities of the ground. He saw traces of
only two entrances, but a subsequent writer 3 succeeded in finding definite
traces of four entrances.
There is a good pond inside the area of the camp, which like West
Wycombe and Castle Thorpe incloses the church of the parish.
DESBOROUGH CASTLE. — This important earthwork, popularly called ' The
Roundabout,' lies on the top of a hill a little to the south-west of the road
which leads along the valley from High Wycombe to West Wycombe.
The camp must have been one of considerable strength in ancient times on
account of its important strategic situation and the arrangement of its
defences.
Originally the top of the hill appears to have been occupied by a
pre-historic camp inclosing a considerable area of ground. Subsequently a
smaller camp, oval in outline, and consisting of an outer fosse and an inner
rampart of great height and strength, was thrown up. A writer on this
camp, Mr. R. S. Downs, of Wycombe (Rec. of Bucks, v, 249), regards the
older camp as outworks of the newer camp, in which, he remarks, there can
be little doubt that there was a building of considerable strength, as the
remains of old tiling, hewn stone, and masonry plainly indicate.
Whilst felling trees which grew here about 1743 (he writes) portions of stone gothic work
were dug up resembling the jambs of a church window. Of the once-famous Desborough Castle,
nothing now remains but the name and the tradition that such a building once existed here.
The earlier earthworks at Desborough Castle have become much modi-
fied since the period when they were thrown up. Flint implements have
been found upon the site.
Numerous attempts have been made by different writers to show that
Desborough Castle is of Saxon or Danish origin, but these theories appear
to be merely speculations based on no solid or sufficient evidence. It is sig-
nificant, however, that Desborough Hundred derives its name from this castle.
Desborough * was also probably a place of popular meeting or folk-mote,
and from every point of view was a central and locally important place ;
but an inspection of its interesting earthworks is sufficient to suggest that its
importance began at a far earlier time than the Saxon or Danish periods.
HEDGERLEY : BULSTRODE PARK. — The chief feature about this camp is
its size, which is unusually large for Buckinghamshire. The entrenchments,
it will be noticed, are double on the north-east side, treble at one or two
points, and inclose an area of 2 1 acres of land. The breaks on the north-
' Of this we can find no evidence. ' Rev. W. Hastings Kelke, Arch. Journ. xiv, 273.
4 Rec. of Bucks, viii, 464.
24
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
west and south-east sides are probably larger now than they originally were
owing to damage or subsequent modification of the earthen banks. When
Lipscomb wrote' the camp was
disfigured by some large oak-trees
growing on the ramparts, a blemish
which still remains.
MONKS RISBOROUGH : PULPIT
WOOD. — This hill-top camp may
be described as consisting of an
irregular and interrupted circle of
rampart strengthened by a fosse,
which is more complete than the
bank, a circumstance which may
be explained, at least in part, by
the subsequent degradation, by rain-
wash and other forces, of the ram-
parts. The double line of ramparts
on the north-east, east, and south-
east sides was necessary, in order to
cut off the camp from a small area
of flat ground to the north-east.
The manner in which the
natural features have been utilized,
and the extent to which these
"'••.iMimimmiiniiMKii'
JCALlOf fttT
« 190 too ».»0
features have affected the shape of
BULSTRODE PARK, HEDCIRLET the camp, are points which strike
the observer at once, and clearly
testify to the skill of the people who made the earthwork. On the north-
western side of the camp the natural slope of the earth is so great as to render
a built-up rampart hardly necessary. A fosse, therefore, has been constructed
with a small expenditure of
effort by throwing the moved
soil down the hill, in the
manner indicated in the sec-
tion C— D in the accompany-
ing plan. This s a speces
of labour-saving fortification,
of which there are numerous
other pre-historic instances.
In this county there is an
even finer example of its use
on the south-west side of
the very interesting series of
earthworks surrounding the
upper part of the hill on
which stands the church of
West Wycombe. On the
north, north-east, east, and
$! *-
MJ> SECTIONS.
SCALE Or
100 zoo
300
PULPIT WOOD, MONKS RISBOROUGH
* Hut. and Antiq. of Bucki. (1847), iv, 507.
25
/i,
*,
N
05
Church
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
south-east sides of Pulpit Wood there is a double set of ramparts, and exactly
on the east side is a large entrance.
In the inclosure of the camp and round it many flint flakes and chip-
pings, indicative of a Neolithic factory, have been noticed ; and, although it
is perhaps not wise to pronounce positively upon the matter, there is some
reason to believe that this is entitled to rank as one of the Neolithic strong-
holds of Buckinghamshire.
HIGH WYCOMBE : KEEP
HILL. — This is another hill-top
camp which may be mentioned
under Class B.
WEST WYCOMBE. — This
is a nearly circular earthwork,
inclosing the church and
churchyard of West Wycombe.
From the north to the east the
rampart is double. On the
south-east the works have been
destroyed in connexion with
the building of a large eigh-
teenth-century mausoleum for
the use of the Dashwood
family. From the south to
the west the natural slope of
the ground is so great as to
render fosses unnecessary, and
the defences, therefore, consist
of two terraces. The inner
ring of defence is pretty clearly
indicated by the fence inclos-
ing the churchyard.
A narrow neck of land of
about the same level as the
camp runs to the northward,
where it joins the hills beyond,
but on the other sides the hill
has steep natural slopes on which grow numerous yew trees.
The terraced defences just referred to are interesting, and may be com-
pared with a similar but single piece of work at Pulpit Wood.
WENDOVER. — On Boddington Hill there is an unmistakable camp, and
at Backham Hill the alleged camp is probably a barrow which has sub-
sequently been used as a beacon station.
WHELPLEY HILL. — There is a fine oval camp here nearly obliterated.
'Mausoleum
SCALE OF FEET
O 100 zoo sop
SECTIONS.
C.Hass of Hertfordshire
Conglomerate .
EARTHWORKS ROUND WEST WYCOMBE CHURCH
26
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
RECTANGULAR OR OTHER SIMPLE INCLOSURES
(CLASS C)
Examples of rectangular earthworks remain at
MUSWELL HILL, near Brill, where the site abounds in flints ;
GREAT MISSENDEN. — One at Reddenwych Wood, and another on
Castle Hill, called Rookwood Camp ;
SHENLEY CHURCH END ; and
WHADDON.
FORTS CONSISTING ONLY OF A MOUNT WITH
ENCIRCLING DITCH OR FOSSE
(CLASS D)
At Cublington, six miles to the north-east of Aylesbury, there is a work
known as ' the Beacon,' marked as a tumulus on the Ordnance Survey map,
which may be placed under Class D, as it appears to have been a castle
mount.
MOUNTS WITH ONE OR MORE ATTACHED COURTS
(CLASS E)
Buckinghamshire furnishes only a few examples of moated mounts with
courts, or baileys, attached. In addition to those which remain, it is
possible that the earthwork defences of Buckingham Castle were of the
moated mount and bailey type. The small engraved bird's-eye view in Speed's
early seventeenth-century map shows an eminence marked ' Castell Hill,'
which certainly suggests this ; but as the site has been entirely altered and
levelled it is impossible to say positively.
CASTLE THORPE. — The evidence for this belonging to Class E is not
very strong, but the mount is clearly defined, and in the case of one of the
baileys or in-
closures, part of
the defences
consists of dou-
ble ramparts.
The parish
church, as in
the case of two
other Bucking-
hamshire sites,
is built within
the precincts of
the more an-
cient earth- SCALEOFFECT '//imV <!' M, -,/« Ch<
works,doubtless 9 '9<> too 3QQ Mary*
for protection. EARTHWORKS AT CAVTLI THORPE
27
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
SCALE OF FEET
I IOO ZOO 3OO
iii
CASTLE HILL, HIGH WYCOMBK
HIGH WYCOMBE. — Castle Hill, standing in private grounds at High
Wycombe, may possibly be part of an earthwork of the Class E type.
LITTLE KIMBLE : CYMBELINE'S MOUNT.
— This work, as has been remarked, occu-
Barrow pies an important and prominent look-out
point on a spur of the Chiltern Hills.
It may be conveniently placed under
Class E. Its situation and small size give
it a peculiar interest.
Compared with the finest types of
Class E, such as Arundel, Lewes, Ongar,
and Windsor, this work appears to present
a species of defence which is much more
nearly allied to pre-historic times, than to
the Norman period, an era to which the
regular mount and bailey earthworks are
now commonly referred by antiquaries. It
must have been always a very good point
from which much of the surrounding country could be overlooked. Indeed,
the earthwork seems in many ways far more suitable for such a purpose than
for a purely defensive camp possessing strategic advantages.
Cymbeline's Mount consists of a circular pyramidal mount with trun-
cated top. This top is surrounded at the base by a well-developed fosse, the
earth from which has been utilized in making the
annular rampart which incloses the whole. This
fact is clearly demonstrated by the re-arranged
chalk revealed in rabbh-burrows.
Tradition assigns this work to Cymbeline, or
Cunobelinus, the king of south-east Britain who
was reigning a few years before the Christian era,
and about forty years after it ; but the evidence
of Neolithic implements found within one of the
square inclosures points to earlier occupation of
the site. Small fragments of pottery of pre-Roman
character have been noticed in the camp by the
present writer.
The inclosures or baileys may perhaps have
contained stockaded villages or places for the
shelter and protection of sheep, or indeed for both
purposes. No traces of masonry or foundations
are seen on the surface of the ground. The work overhangs Icknield Way.
On the still higher ground to the south of Cymbeline's Mount there are
remains which may possibly be those of ancient hut-floors.
k»*L?
SCALE OF FEET
0 100 gOO 300
CYMBELINE'S MOUNT, LITTLE
KIMBLE
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
HOMESTEAD MOATS
(Class F)
Earthworks of this kind, consisting of simple inclosurcs formed into
artificial islands by water-moats, arc found mostly in the lowlands of the county
in such districts as the richly pastured plain known as the Vale of Aylesbury.
The purpose of the typical homestead moat was to afford protection
from marauders or wolves, and possibly to avoid risk of loss of, or damage to,
cattle and farm produce from a spreading fire. Yet, although they were not
constructed to withstand powerful enemies or regular military operations,
they were not infrequently of considerable size. They present much variety
of form, as will be seen from the typical examples here figured.
The probability is that the homestead moats of Buckinghamshire have
been constructed at different periods ; but if, as seems extremely probable,
they represent the period when the inhabitants of the county settled down to
the regular and systematic pursuit of husbandry, most of the really ancient
examples are probably Saxon.
In the accompanying plate are represented plans of nine typical or note-
worthy forms of homestead moats in Buckinghamshire.
Fig. i. — A very simple square inclosure with entrance at north-east
corner : Horton.
Fig. 2. — A very similar example in which the water, represented in
solid black, has probably shrunk in bulk, leaving precipitous sides within
and without the moat : Bow Brickhill.
Fig. 3. — A completely surrounded square island, the moat being crossed
by a bridge : Horton Hall, Slapton.
Fig. 4. — Two square islands surrounded by a moat : Apsley, Little
Kimble.
Fig. 5. — A curiously shaped semicircular island surrounded by a moat,
with an entrance at the south-western side : Church Farm, Pitstone.
Fig. 6. — A nearly regular five-sided island entirely surrounded by a
moat : Little Pednor Farm, Chesham.
Fig. 7. — A curiously irregular moat, roughly square outside, with
narrow entrance on north side : East End, North Crawley.
Fig. 8. — Dry moat at Cippenham, Burnham, inclosing the site of the
palace of Richard, earl of Cornwall and king of the Romans, therefore
probably a work of the thirteenth century, or earlier.
Fig. 9. — An irregularly shaped moat and inclosure, with a strengthening
rampart on the north-east and east : Dinton.
The following is a list, which has no pretension to completeness, of
homestead moats in Buckinghamshire : —
ASHLEY GREEN. — Moat inclosing ruins of chapel.
ASTON ABBOTS. — Remains of a moat.
ASTON CLINTON. — Rectangular moat : also a dry moat at Vatche's Farm.
ASTON SANDFORD. — A moat one mile north-east of church.
ASTWOOD. — Portions of a moat at The Bury : also a small quadrangular
moat.
AYLESBURY. — Moat ij miles east of the town.
29
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
BIERTON. — Moat J mile south of the village.
BOARSTALL. — Two quadrangular moats.
Bow BRICKHILL. — Simple quadrangular moat (see fig. 2).
BRADWELL ABBEY. — Irregularly shaped moat at Moat House ; and remains
of a circular moat.
BROUGHTON BY BIERTON. — Moat at Manor Farm.
BUCKLAND. — Moat of irregular quadrangular form, near Moat Farm.
BURNHAM. — Moat of large size and somewhat mutilated, at Burnham
Abbey : also moat round site of royal palace at Cippenham (see fig. 8).
BURNHAM BEECHES. — Harlequin's Moat.
CHEDDINGTON. — Moat near Cheddington Manor House.
CHESHAM. — Moat at Little Pednor Farm (see fig. 6).
CHETWODE. — Moat near church and Priory House.
CHICHELEY. — Moat i mile east of church.
CLAYDON, EAST. — Portions of a quadrangular moat.
CRAWLEY, NORTH. — Curious moat inclosing five small ponds at Up End ;
also moat at the manor-house at East End.
DENHAM. — Moat at Denham Lodge.
DINTON. — Irregular moat, with protecting rampart (see fig. 9).
DRAYTON BEAUCHAMP. — Irregular moat, consisting possibly of three
nearly related inclosures.
EDLESBOROUGH. — Moat at Church Farm, and another at Manor Farm.
Moat at Butler's Farm.
ELLESBOROUGH. — Moats at Nash Lee, Terrick House, Grove Farm, and
Chalkshire Farm.
GRENDON UNDERWOOD. — Moat of irregular form near the church.
HAMPDEN, GREAT. — Moat at Moat Farm, Kiln Common.
HANSLOPE. — Moat (part of) at Ivy Farm.
HARDMEAD. — Oblong moat at Astwood Farm : also a moat almost sur-
rounding the site of Hardmead Manor House.
HARTWELL. — Moat 2 miles south-east of church.
HAVERSHAM. — Nearly complete quadrangular moat near church.
HOGSHAW. — Moat near Hogshaw Farm : also remains of rectangular
moat at Fulbrook Farm.
HORSENDEN. — Irreguhr fragments of moat. There is also a fairly com-
plete but irregular moat at Roundabout Wood.
HORTON. — Moat at Horton Hall. Another to the south-west of Horton
Mills (see fig. i). Remains of Moat at Berkin Manor.
HORWOOD, LITTLE. — Moat at Moat Farm.
HULCOTT. — Quadrangular moat, with entrance at north-west corner.
IVINGHOE. — Moat of quadrangular form, with extension to the north-
east.
KIMBLE, GREAT. — Moat at Marsh. Moat of irregular form at Grange
Farm.
KIMBLE, LITTLE. — Moat at Apsley : with double inclosure (see fig. 4).
LANGLEY MARISH. — Moat, of lozenge form, at Parlaunt Park Farm ;
two other moats at ' Trenches ; ' and another at Parsonage Farm.
LAVENDON. — Lavendon Grange and site of Lavendon Abbey, also at
Uphoe Manor House.
30
N
N
N
N
N
TYPICAL EXAMPLES OP HOMESTEAD MOATS IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
LUDGERSHALL. — Small quadrangular moat ; also moat, of irregularly
quadrangular form, at Tetchwich Farm.
MARSTON, NORTH. — Two moats, 2 and 3 miles west of the village.
MARSWORTH — Moat at Marsworth Great Farm.
MISSENDEN, GREAT. — Moat at Bury Farm.
MURSLEY. — Moat to the south of the village.
OLNEY. — Moat in the township of Warrington.
PITSTONE. — Moat inclosing a nearly semicircular space at Church
Farm (see fig. 5).
PRINCES RISBOROUGH. — Fragment of moat at the old vicarage ; another
adjacent moat, partly dry, but originally quadrangular, called ' The Mount.'
QUAINTON. — Moat, possibly once quadrangular, of large size, at Dod-
dershall House.
QUARRENDON. — Two moats of quadrangular form.
RAVENSTONE. — Remains of a moat, originally of some importance.
SHENLEY CHURCH END. — Moat adjoining the rectangular camp.
SHERINGTON. — Nearly quadrangular moat inclosing manor-house.
SIMPSON. — Moat i mile south-east of church.
SOULBURY. — Dry moat to the south of Liscombe Park.
STEWKLEY. — Moat near Stewkley Church.
STOKE GOLDINGTON. — Dry moat at Church Farm ; also a nearly
rectangular moat, with entrance on west side.
STOKE MANDEVILLE. — Moat at Moat Farm.
STOKE POGES. — Moat at Ditton Park.
TATTENHOE. — Moat near church.
WENDOVER. — Two moats 2 miles west of the town.
WESTON TURVILLE. — Small circular moat to the west of Weston Manor
House ; a dry moat ; small fragment of moat ; and another moat at Manor
Farm.
WEXHAM. — Moats of irregular forms at Wexham Court.
WING. — Traces of moat at Ascott Hall.
WOTTON UNDERWOOD. — Moat (fragments of) at Moat Farm.
It is noteworthy that the homestead moats of Buckinghamshire, which
are generally of square, normal shape, in many cases inclose a space which is
associated with farmsteads bearing the suggestive appellations of manor
farm, moat farm, &c. In some homestead moats in the county one may find
considerable irregularity of shape, a circumstance which is probably due to
enlargement or modification arising from the amalgamation of several adjacent
inclosures.
The distribution of homestead moats in Buckinghamshire, as elsewhere,
is largely governed by the presence or absence of water. They are to be
found in some abundance in the valleys and low-lying ground in the middle
and northern parts of the county, and even on the sides of the Chilterns and
other hills up to about 400 ft. above ordnance datum. This is at the present
time much above the level where water usually occurs, but probably it was
not so when the homestead-moats were constructed.
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
STRONG DEFENSIVE INCLOSURES
(CLASS G)
An earthwork which apparently belongs to this class is the circular
moat-like work which incloses Hawridge Court.
ANCIENT VILLAGE SITES
(CLASS H)
There is an important inclosure, once stockaded, which may be placed
in this class, at Hoggeston, a parish in the north of the county, situated
3$ miles to the south-east of Winslow. The following particulars have been
very kindly furnished by the Rev. C. H. Tomlinson, rector of Hoggeston.
The inclosure, which is oblong in shape with rounded corners, is of
large size, measuring nearly a quarter of a mile from east to west, and about
one-eighth part of a mile from north to south. The inclosing ditch is more
pronounced on the east and west sides than on the north and south, but it is
quite clearly traceable all round. Towards the north-east corner of and
within the inclosure there is a pond, and there is another pond on the south
side, and still another close to the eastern ditch on the outside. The church
and rectory house are inside the inclosure.
The probability is that this was an original settlement in the Forest of
Bernwood, entrenched and stockaded as a defence against wild beasts and
unfriendly neighbours.
MISCELLANEOUS EARTHWORKS
(CLASS X)
GREAT MISSENDEN : EARTHWORKS IN BRAY'S WOOD. — The rectangular
banks of which these works consist comprise a complete square inclosure
with an imperfect oblong inclosure
partly surrounding it, but lying
mainly to the west. In the present
condition of the works it is not
possible to say whether the three
remaining sides of the oblong were
ever completed by a fourth side in
such a way as entirely to surround
the square work, but there are one
or two points which seem to indicate
that such was not the case. The
probability is that the square por-
tion of the entrenchments was
constructed for the protection of a
dwelling-house or small collection
of houses, whilst the oblong addition
SCAUEOF FECT
100 200 300
33
CAMP IN BRAY'S WOOD, GREAT MISSENDEN
5
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
served as a defence for the outbuildings and cattle. The discovery 6 of
fragments of Roman pottery and remains of buildings actually inside this
square inclosure rather confirms this view, and, although suggesting occupation
of the spot during the Roman period, by no means precludes the possibility
of an earlier or a later origin. To the east there are some minor works
which may have been field inclosures. One of them is broken, giving
access to a pond, doubtless for the benefit of cattle.
Whatever may have been the condition of the square inclosure in
pre-historic and in Roman times, it is known that in much later days a
moated house was built upon the site, and early in the nineteenth century
large quantities of building material, flints, &c., were carted away. The
whole place has been much obscured and damaged by a dense growth of
forest trees.
Other remains of miscellaneous earthworks which may be mentioned
are (i) the defensive works of Bolbeck Castle at Whitchurch ; (2) works at
Brill near the church ; (3) works at Ivinghoe and Pitstone Hills ; and (4)
works near Great Kimble Church.
There is a roughly square entrenchment, called Grove Bank, 2j miles
north-east of Chesham. At its north-wrest are some traces of walling, as if
intended for a castle, but now levelled.
At Oving there is a circular camp, and at Medmenham there are two
works, viz. Danesditch and States Farm Camp.
GRIMES DYKE. — There are several variations in the popular name of this
important earthwork ; Grymes, Grymer's, or Grim's Dyke or Ditch being
amongst the most common. Of the great antiquity of the work there can be
no doubt. It is mentioned in a charter of the time of Henry III, and the
important place it occupies in local folk-lore is sufficient indication, one may
imagine, of its very early historic, or even pre-historic, antiquity. The
purpose of the great ditch or dyke is a matter of some uncertainty, but
it seems clear that it should be included in this account of the ancient earth-
works of Buckinghamshire, through which county it runs.
Grimes Dyke is, as its name suggests, a ditch of considerable importance.
It consists of a fosse and rampart which, in certain more perfect parts,
measure about 40 ft. in width and 30 ft. in depth. Its course, which one
writer 7 considers to be its main feature, runs through the southern part of
Buckinghamshire along the Chiltern Hills. The ditch keeps within the
platform of the high ground of the hills. It is by no means easy to follow
its exact course, but the writer 8 just referred to, who evidently had an
intimate knowledge of the district, points out that it has been traced from
Bradenham, whence it runs in bold outline through the woods to Lacey
Green, forming the boundary of the parish of Princes Risborough. Thence,
turning at an angle, it maintains its conspicuous course by Redland End,
through Hampden Park, where, again turning sharply round, it runs near
Hampden House, and onwards towards Great Missenden. Crossing the
valley the course of the ditch runs near King's Ash, in Wendover parish ;
then, passing through woods near St. Leonards, it continues in a now muti-
lated state over Wigginton Common, and is met with in full preservation
6 Rev. W. J. Burgess, Rec. of Bucks, i, 171.
'Ibid. 1,25. 8Op. cit.
34
ANCIENT EARTHWORKS
above Berkhampstead, in Hertfordshire. Crossing the valley northward at that
point it stretches over Berkhampstead Common towards Ashridge.
The purpose of Grimes Dyke is a question which has exercised the minds
and imaginative powers of many people in different periods. Some have
wildly suggested that ' Grim ' is a translation of Severus, whilst the character
of the name itself clearly attributes the work to a supernatural origin.
Another theory is that this great ditch running along the Chiltern Hills
served as a line of embankments to connect the strongholds of West Wycombe,
Cholesbury, and other camps by which it passes. The obvious objec-
tion to this explanation is that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to
defend such an extremely extended bulwark without the aid of an armed
force which was entirely out of the question at the time. Again, it cannot
have been constructed for a roadway, because it passes over hills too steep for
vehicles. It is quite certain that it could not have been constructed for
purposes of fortification, because the works are less developed on low ground
than they are on steep hills.
It seems almost certain that this ancient line of fosse and rampart was
intended to serve as a boundary-mark, separating the districts occupied by
different tribes or principalities. It is clear, too, that such an extensive line
of earthworks must have been the work of peaceable times, and of a large
combination of willing hands. Such operations as these would have been
impossible in war-like times, and in the presence of active and belligerent
enemies.'
Without presuming to have finally settled what has long been a vexed
question amongst antiquaries, we may suggest this as a useful working theory.
It is possible, of course, that future discoveries may have the effect of proving
quite clearly that the earthworks were made for another purpose, but in the
meanwhile the boundary-mark theory seems to be open to few if any
objections.
In conclusion the writer desires to express his thanks for valuable assis-
tance, particularly in reference to little-known earthworks, courteously given
by Mr. A. Hadrian Allcroft, M.A.,and Mr. C. Angell Bradford, F.S.A., and
to the late Mr. I. Chalkley Gould, F.S.A., for kindly reading the proofs of
this article.
* Arch. Journ. xiv, 272-4.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
HISTORY
* "W" T is true of this County, that it liveth more by its lands than by its
hands. Such the fruitfulness, venting the native commodities thereof
at great rates (thank the vicinity of London, the best chapman), that
no handicrafts of note, save what are common to other counties, are
used therein excepting any will instance in bone lace, much thereof being
made about Owldney in this county.' This description of Buckinghamshire
in Fuller's Worthies of England1 sums up the conditions of social and eco-
nomic life in the county for many centuries. Until the eighteenth century,
when lace-making was extensively carried on, the population was occupied
mainly in agriculture and those trades supplementary to it. Corn-dealers,
brewers, butchers, masons and men employed in other branches of the
building trades, weavers and fullers, tailors, shoemakers, and hatters are the
tradesmen that most frequently appear in the county.
The county is divided into two very distinct divisions by its natural
features. In the Chiltern districts the greater proportion of the land is
arable and well wooded. To the north of the Chiltern Hills lies the Vale of
Aylesbury, a famous pasture country, stretching from the foot of the Chilterns
and the borders of Oxfordshire to the western boundary of Hertfordshire, and
on the north as far as Wingrave, Wing, and Whitchurch, though the country
lying beyond is sometimes included in the vale. Leland ' describes the Vale
as being ' cleane barren of wood and is champaine,' and in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries its pasture was mainly used for sheep-farming, but later,
and at the present day, dairy-farming has been found far more profitable
owing to the great demand in the London market.
The towns of Buckinghamshire at no time occupied a very important
place in the economic history of the county. In the Domesday Survey
Buckingham was the only borough mentioned separately, though a few
burgesses were found on the manor of Newport. Aylesbury and Wendover
only appear as manors in the hands of the king, and Wycombe as a town is
not mentioned at all. In the Hundred Rolls* two towns are mentioned,
Newport Pagnel and Wycombe, but they were held as parts of a manor, and
paid whatever service was due to the lord of the manor. Certain privileges
and exemptions were claimed at Newport Pagnel : no hidage was paid, and
some unspecified payment was not made from the borough because the bur-
gesses had no land except 'free burgage.' At High Wycombe the whole
1 p. 193 (ed. Nutttll). ' I tin. iv.
' llund. R. (Rec. Cora.), i. The reference to Wycombe is for a grant of King John.
37
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
manor had been held by King John, but he had granted it away in two parts,
the ' surburbum ' to Robert de Vipont and the whole borough to Alan Basset,
who paid a rent of £20 a year.
None of the boroughs in the county were incorporated by royal charter
until the sixteenth century, but at Chepping Wycombe, as the borough is
still called, a fine was levied between the lord and the burgesses in 1226 or
1 2 27,* and was confirmed by successive kings. The burgesses complained
that Alan Basset had done them certain damages and injuries contrary to the
liberties which they held of the ancestors of the king, and Alan granted to
them the whole borough and town of Wycombe, with the rents, markets, and
fairs, and with all other things appertaining to a free borough. Alan reserved
his demesnes and lands in the ' foreigns ' and certain privileges, but the bur-
gesses were to pay the rent and the service of one knight due to the king.
In 1237-8 the king confirmed this fine, with a slight alteration in the rent —
the fee-farm of the burgesses was £30 and I mark of silver. Alan Basset
had also the right to take tallage in the borough whenever the king tallaged
his demesnes. The fine was also confirmed by Edward I and Henry IV, and
took the place to a certain extent of a royal charter. At High Wycombe a
ledger has been preserved in which the important orders made by the officers
of the borough were entered from time to time.
The first entry was made early in the fourteenth century, and mentions
the merchant gild and the officers of the borough :
Every son and heir of every burgess shall have the liberty of the Gild of Merchants after
the death of his father by hereditary descent according to the custom of the town, and gives
10^., viz. id. to the mayor, ^d. to the clerk, \d. to the sub-bailiff, 8a. to the gildans, ^d. to
the Master of the Hospital of St. John.
This is the only mention of the merchant gild until the charter of Philip
and Mary, and at this time its membership was evidently co-extensive with
the number of burgesses. The chief officers were the mayor and bailiffs, the
sub-bailiff, the clerk, and the gildans. The gildans were responsible for the
management of the market and the preservation of the trading rights of
the gild. In 1316 an order was issued concerning the weavers who wished
to work in the borough. Previously they had paid \2d. a year to the
gildans for every loom working, but this was remitted, apparently to
encourage weavers to settle in the town. The order was made in ' plena
magna Gilda,' but, in 1313, an order to the butchers was made ' In magna et
plena curia villate de Wycumb de unanimo consensu communitatis.' At the
end of the fifteenth century a similar order restraining the freedom of the
corn-dealers in the market was ' ordeyned by the avys of the sayd mayre and
hes brederne with th' assent and grant of all the Broges and Commonoulties
of the town of Wicombe for a fast and staboll Act.' The tribute of the
corn-dealers was to be paid to the bailiff and not to the gildans, and probably
the merchant gild had been completely identified with the borough. The
mayor's 'brederne' were presumably the bailiffs. In 1398 there were strict
orders that no one of any condition should wander about the town after
ten o'clock at night \, if anyone was found out of doors without a reasonable
cause he might be seized, punished, and detained until set at liberty by the
mayor and commonalty.
4 Feet of F. Bucks. 10 Hen. III.
38
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
The privileges of the borough court were also closely guarded ; the pay-
ment of a fine or imprisonment was the punishment for a burgess impleading
anyone without the borough unless permission had been obtained from the
mayor.
At Aylesbury there are no records at all before the sixteenth century,
but no sort of incorporation was effected by the inhabitants. In 1 500 ' the
lord of the manor held the courts as for an ordinary manor, the court-leet
and view of frankpledge and the ' Curte,' no mention being made of bur-
gesses or of a borough court of any kind.
Buckingham was a borough by prescription, though it never sent
members to Parliament until the sixteenth century. In the fourteenth * cen-
tury two precepts were sent to the borough by Edward III to send two
representatives to a council. The precepts were addressed to the mayor and
two bailiffs, the borough officials. In a court roll7 in 1454—5 the names of
the courts held in the town are found. The ' Curia Burgentum ' was held
once in the year, the ' port mot ' once a month, but the entries are not
enlightening ; in the former two men made default, in the latter there were
frequent presentments for making and selling bread under weight, but there
are no entries as to the trade or government of the town, nor is there any
mention of the merchant gild amongst the records of the borough.8
Wendover, Amersham,9 and Great Marlow 10 sent members to Parlia-
ment in the reigns of Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III, and in
consequence obtained incorporation in the seventeenth century ; but they
were small market towns of little importance. Colnbrook ll was another
market town that was incorporated from 1544 to 1653. At different times
markets were held in thirty-seven places in the county, besides many fairs ;
of these the markets of Aylesbury, Wycombe, and Buckingham were of
great importance. The tolls, piccage, and stallage dues of a market were part
of the perquisites of the lord of the manor until a town was incorporated, so
that only at Chepping Wycombe did the borough control and receive the
profits from the market.
In the Domesday Survey the county was divided into eighteen hundreds
or districts for the purposes of local government, but some time before 1285'*
they were consolidated and formed into six groups, each containing three of
the old divisions, the 'Three Hundreds' of Buckingham, Newport, Cottesloe,
Ashendon, Aylesbury, and the Chiltern Hundreds of Desborough, Burnham,
and Stoke.
It is noteworthy that in this county the king retained all the hundreds
in his own hand. Hence the local courts were held by the sheriff, the chief
royal official in the county, and through him the king received the ferm of
the shire and other dues.
In spite, however, of the administrative and criminal jurisdiction being
thus controlled by the officers of the crown, the Hundred Rolls show that at
the end of the reign of Henry III, corruption, oppression, and abuse of power
were rampant.
• Arch. 1. 93. * Browne Willis, Hut. of Buckingham, 41
: P.R.O. Court Rolls, ptfo. 155-6.
1 From information kindly given by Mr. T. R. Hearn, town clerk of the borough of Buckingham.
' Lipscomb, Hut. and Antiq. of Biukt. iii, 161. " Ibid. 597. " Ibid, iv, 430-1.
" FeuJ. Aids (Rec. Com.), i, 89.
39
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Bailiffs and sub-bailiffs of the hundreds, escheators and coroners, with
their subordinates all exercised their different offices and all, from the highest
to the lowest, regarded them as sources of personal profit. Various inquisitions
were held during the thirteenth century to bring to light all such irregularities.
In the hundreds of Bonestowe, Molesho, and Seggelawe, the sheriff had
gradually raised the ferm since 1265 from IOQJ. to jTS, and the hundreds of
Newport had suffered a similar increase. On another occasion the sheriff
received money due to the king, gave no receipt for it, and never
accounted for it in the royal exchequer. Again, he exacted a fine for beau-
pleader at Chicheley which was not due from the township. Whether the
sheriff personally or the king was the gainer in this case does not appear.
The coroners extorted money from the various townships when they came to
hold inquests, and Elias de Eugaine, a bailiff, imprisoned a man, Hugh son of
Hugh by name, without cause and held him in durance until payment of
105^. was made.
Bribery was also rife amongst all officials. The same Elias de Eugaine,
when sheriff, accepted money to excuse men from serving on inquest ; the
coroners and bailiffs took bribes from different places to conceal crimes committed
within their boundaries, and to connive at the escape of prisoners from gaol.
The escheators who came to take possession of the lands falling in to the
king, do not seem to have been the personal gainers by the irregularities
practised, but the heirs of the last tenants suffered in many ways from the
wrongful seizure of land.
In the fourteenth century a special assize ls was held by the itinerant
justices of all ' Oppressions and Extortions.' The sheriffs and bailiffs were
still guilty of similar offences, but a prominent place was given to irregu-
larities in the collection of wool granted to the king. The collectors
were accused of refusing to give receipts for wool they had taken, or else of
weighing it falsely.
To gain any picture of the social condition of the inhabitants of Buck-
inghamshire in the Middle Ages, recourse must be had not to the towns but
almost exclusively to manorial records, for the manor was the unit around
which the whole local life of the country revolved.
The manors were for the most part in the hands of lay lords, for until
the twelfth century there were no religious houses in the county itself, though
a few manors were held by monasteries outside its boundaries.14 Later the
foundations were numerous, but they were all small and included no house of
the first importance. In consequence, there are no great collections of docu-
ments concerning the lands and tenants of the monasteries, which elsewhere
contribute so largely to the materials for the social history of the twelfth and
the two succeeding centuries. An early extent of the manors of Missenden
Abbey for the fourteenth century exists, and similar documents for one or two
manors which were temporarily in the hands of the king, but it is from the
court rolls and ministers accounts of lay manors for the most part that all
information must be gathered.16
11 Assize R. No. 74.
" The abbot of St. Albans claimed to hold Winslow and Horwood by a charter of King Offa ; Hund. R.
(Rec. Com.), i, 27.
15 Few of the court rolls or accounts date back to the thirteenth century, but from the method of com-
piling the latter, it is possible to obtain information of an earlier date than the actual date of the document.
40
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
The records in the northern part of the county are extremely scanty,
but in the Chiltern districts and the Vale of Aylesbury a fairly complete
picture of local organization can be drawn.
The private jurisdictions which existed in all parts of England may
be divided into two classes, the franchises of regalities, and the feudal
rights inherent to the possession of a manor and the mere fact of having
tenants. According to the royal theory regalia could only be exercised by a
subject in virtue of a direct grant from the crown, and it was this theory
that Edward I adopted in the vigorous ' Quo Warranto ' inquiry. Very few
lords in these cases could show a definite grant of regalia, but relied on the
vague words of the old charters granting ' sac and sok, toll and theam and
infangfhief.' In entry after entry in the Quo Warranto Rolls,1' the royal
lawyers declared that this formula only gave the right to an ordinary manorial
court and not to the view of frankpledge. Some lords too could not even
show a charter at all, but could only plead their prescriptive right to hold the
view of frankpledge and other royal privileges, the most common of which
were the assize of bread and ale, infangthief, waifs and strays, and the right
to hold markets and fairs. The great abbeys and barons held many such
franchises, and the different manors belonging to the great tenants in chief in
some cases formed an ' honour.' The earl of Gloucester held the honour of
Giffard," of which Crendon was the chief manor, and lands in the county
were parcel of the honours of Dudley, Peverel, Toctesburg, Chester, Berk-
hampstead, and Wallingford, the last being in the hands of the earl of Corn-
wall, brother of the king. Honour courts are not definitely mentioned in
the hundred rolls except for the honour of Peverel.
The most important franchises were held by the abbot of St. Albans and
by the lords of the honours of Wallingford and Peverel. The abbot at
Winslow and Horwood had ' all liberties, pleas of replevin, and the return of
writs,' and the earl of Cornwall had the same franchises in the manors of the
honour of Wallingford, but in the honour of GifFard the return of writs was
not granted, and thus the sheriff and his officers were not excluded from the
carl of Gloucester's lands.
At Fawley William de Valence held all the pleas belonging to the
sheriff, and the abbot of Westminster held the manor of Denham with ' all
liberties and regalia ' by charter.
The great majority of lords did not possess the important franchises, but
a view of frankpledge was held so universally that at one time it must have
been regarded as a manorial right rather than as a royal jurisdiction. At the
same time, however, small payments were made by some lords for this right
to the sheriff or bailiff of the hundred.
The feudal lords held the view of frankpledge for their men, with-
drawing their suit from the sheriff's view, and making their manorial court
a court for the presentment of offences against the peace. The jury of
twelve freeholders was continually dispensed with ; probably on many
manors it could not be obtained, but in spite of this the lord still held
his view. Thus at Kingsey, Cippenham, and Eton, for instance, in the
fourteenth century only the tithing-men made presentments. On the other
hand, in the Fawley courts, the twelve free jurors were regularly called
u Plac. de Quo tTarranto for Bucb. " HtaiJ. R. (Rcc. Com.), i.
2 41 6
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
together and made a separate presentment. Generally they merely said that
everything was well, but occasionally some concealed offence was presented
by them. The business of the court was a review of the tithings and the
presentment of offences against the peace. For certain offences the lord
himself levied fines. He thus was responsible for the condition of the roads,
and dealt with encroachments and poaching. If he also held other franchises,
such as the assizes of bread and ale, and waifs and strays, the numerous
offenders were presented at the view of frankpledge, and finally the tithing-
men gave a fine to the lord de certo from their tithings.
The view of frankpledge was afterwards called the court-leet of the
manor. The name was used once at Fawley, in I377,18 but afterwards the
older designation of the court reappeared. In 1500 there was a court-leet
at Aylesbury, but at Wingrave the name had not been introduced sixty years
later.
Besides the jurisdiction originating in a grant from the crown the lord
of a manor had the right, inherent to the possession of a manor, to hold a
court for his tenants, both free and customary.
In the fourteenth century there was no trace of any divisions of courts
for the two classes of tenants. At that time the free tenants had, when
possible, withdrawn their suit, and the service was specially noted in their
charters if it was to be exacted. It was, however, extremely difficult to
enforce the attendance of the more important tenants, and a long list of
absent free tenants continually began the business of the court, although the
lord could distrain their goods for default. For the customary tenants on
the other hand the manorial court was the only court of justice. The suits
between tenants were so numerous as to suggest that litigation was one of
the few excitements in an otherwise monotonous life. The chief actions
were for debt and trespass, and were decided by the verdict of recognitors.
Pledges for appearance and fines for non-appearance in these suits were levied
by the lord, so that the perquisites of the court were a valuable asset.
At Kingsey,19 for instance, Thomas Chapman summoned William de
Aston to recover a debt of js. William denied that he owed the money, and
put himself ' at law.' He was, however, unable to find the necessary pledges,
and so was held to be convicted of the debt, which Thomas was to recover,
with damages to the same amount.
In another case Henry le Webbe accused John le Cornmonger and his
wife Isabella of having harboured the son of the Cornmonger after he had
killed a pig belonging to the plaintiff, worth %d. The plea failed, however,
since John and Isabella were not held to be responsible, and Henry was fined
for making a false accusation.
In other cases the plaintiffs came to terms before the end of the suit,
and paid a fine to the lord for leave to make a formal agreement.
Cases of disputed inheritance of customary land were brought to the
lord's court and settled by the evidence of the suitors. All grants of lands,
both free and customary, were recorded in the Court Rolls, in the latter case
the actual transfer of the land being made in court, while fines and dues were
also paid to the steward in the same place.
Lastly, fines were exacted in punishment of all encroachments on the
" B.M. Add. R. 27029, rot. 2, i. «• P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 15.
42
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
lord's rights. The presentments of the hayward for trespass in the meadows,
for instance, were accepted apparently without any trial, and the offenders
fined. An entry in a roll at Kingsey 20 suggests, however, that the tenants
had some control over the amount of the fines.
Omnes tenentes tarn liberi (quam) nativi consensierunt quod si aliquis eorum convincatur
super dampno facto cum animalibus suis in prato de Suthmcd, nisi quibus dc suo proprio,
quod dabunt domine 6d. nomine pene.
At Fawley" a distinction was made in the presentment of different
offences. In questions concerning land if any point was put to the
suitors for evidence the presentment was made by the whole homage, but on
other occasions the presentment was made only by the bondsmen in matters
that affected none but the unfree suitors of the court.
The manor of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries may be regarded
as an independent community, very nearly self-supporting, having little
communication with other places outside its immediate neighbourhood. Its
population was almost entirely agricultural, but in spite of the similarity of
occupation there was a remarkable difference of status between the members
of the community ; in each manor some of the inhabitants were freemen,
others were serfs or bondsmen, described in the Latin of the time as nativi
domini or villani.
These latter were probably in the majority on most of the Buckingham-
shire manors, but exceptions were to be found. At Beaumond," a very small
manor in Little Missenden, the list of tenants in 1333 comprised eleven
freemen and six bondsmen, but earlier the number of bondsmen may have
been larger, since in the fourteenth century the class was already diminishing.
This difference of status had its counterpart in the system of land tenure.
Within the manor the land was divided into two parts, one of which,
the demesne, was generally cultivated by the lord or his steward for the
maintenance of himself and his household, while the other was granted to
different tenants. Some of these tenants held freely and some in villeinage,
and the distinction in tenure as a rule corresponded to the distinction in
status, but exceptions were to be found, though not as a rule until the personal
disabilities of a villein were disappearing. At Fawley the parson, a freeman,
held a tenement in villeinage, for the services tended to become inherent
upon the tenements apart from their tenants. The free tenants of a manor
were bound to their lord in two ways : there was the personal tie created by
the performance on entry into their land of homage and fealty, by which
they became the ' men ' of their lord, and also the relation created by the
grant of the land in return for money or service.
The different kinds of free-tenure were entirely unconnected with the
size and importance of the tenement, and their characteristics were the same
for a great baron and for the humblest freeholder within a manor. From
the Conquest the right in all land emanated from a grant from the crown,
but the tenants in chief might grant their land to sub-tenants, so that there
might be many lords between the king and the man in actual seisin of a
piece of land.
" P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. ijs, No. 15, m. 8. " B.M. Add. R. 27027.
" P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. *.
43
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
In Buckinghamshire the most common form of tenure in chief was
tenure by military service, the tenant holding his land in return for provid-
ing so many knights to serve in the royal army. In 1 166 23 a full return was
made of the number of knights due from the land of the military tenants in
chief, each of whom had enfeoffed the majority of his knights. Thus Earl
Walter GifFard held no land in demesne (for which he would have to supply
knights to the king's army) within the county, all his quota of service having
been distributed among ninety-six knights, and these knights did service for
their land which they held of him. The size of these grants was very various,
for Hugh Bolebec owed the earl the service of twenty knights, and Geoffrey
the son of William twenty-six knights, but others had only to provide half the
service due from one knight. In other cases, however, part of the land alone
had been granted away ; William Malduit thus provided four and a half
knights from his demesne, depending most probably on the service of members
of his household, and when that was not available employing hired soldiers,
for the word miles at this time meant little more than a mounted soldier.
A tenure in many ways akin to military service was that of serjeanty ;
it was called grand serjeanty when the tenant held of the king, and petty
serjeanty when he held of a mesne lord. The tenant in serjeanty performed
some specially personal service for his lord, and in grand serjeanty he could
alienate no part of his land without leave. Several such tenancies were found
in Buckinghamshire. At ' Aston and Ilmire ' ** John son of Bernard held of
the king by the serjeanty of keeping his hawks ; Thomas son of Bernard 2t
held i oo solidatae of land by the serjeanty marescancie accepitrum domini regis.
The most interesting example, however, was at Aston Clinton. The manor
was held by William de Montagu 26 in grand serjeanty, but under the
previous lord much of the land had been alienated to tenants who paid him
a money rent. This had been done without the king's licence, and when
Robert S7 Passelewe was sheriff part of this rent was recovered to the king
and was paid through the lord of the manor. The demesne land of the
manor had, however, undergone another change, being held by military
tenure by the service of one knight ; but so late as the reign of Edward VI K
the tenants were still paying their rent under the name of serjeanty.
On the foundation of monastic houses the donors as a rule granted their
lands in ' frankalmoin,' i.e. a tenure for which the grantee did spiritual
service only. The most common service performed was that of praying for
the souls of the grantor and his ancestors. By an inquisition the monastery
of Biddlesden 29 was said to hold all its lands in frankalmoin, but not all the
houses were so fortunate. When land was held by military service or
serjeanty, the abbot himself was responsible for its performance and the lands
were distinguished as the abbot's temporalities. The abbot of Missen,denso
thus held land at Aston Clinton by serjeanty ; at Kimble he held 20 hides of
land by military service.
Lastly, freehold land was held by common socage, that is, a money
rent was paid by the tenant. The older monastic feoffments were often made
n Cartae Baronum, Black Bk. of Exch. " Hmd. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 25.
K Ibid. 27. K Hund R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20. " Testa de Nevill (Rec Com.), 256, 257.
18 P R.O. Mins. Accts. Edw. VI. w Harl. MS. 84, £.31.
K Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 20, 31.
44
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
in common socage. The prior of St. Frideswide's,'1 at Oxford, held Upper
Winchendon of the king by ancient feoffment for the sum of £20 a year.
The abbot of St. Albans held land in Oving," paying 5 marks a year, but
the jurors, when the inquisition was taken, stated that no one remembered
the origin of the grant. Lay lords of manors holding for a money rent are
also to be found. Alan Basset held half of Wycombe, including the borough,
for 2OJ. a year, and Towersey was also held by socage in chief of the king.
Socage tenure was, however, most usually found amongst the smaller free-
holders in a manor, and often a few agricultural services were also performed
for the lord ; the tenant did fealty and suit at the manorial court.
The status of a villein brought with it many disabilities, but the con-
ditions described in the law-books" of the time seem to have been much
mitigated in practice. At Ilmer, in a survey taken of the manor in 1337—8,**
there is a list of the most important burdens laid on a villein. He might be
elected to the office of reeve ; on his death his lord received the best four-
legged beast or the produce of the best half-acre of his land chosen by the
lord in place of the beast. His son could not be clerked nor his daughter
married without his lord's consent. He might not sell his horse or ox, nor
leave the fee of his lord without permission ; for, in the language of Bracton
the chief legal commentator of the thirteenth century, he was asc riptus glebae.
That these restrictions were fully enforced the Court Rolls of different manors
afford abundant evidence. At Kingsey s* a man was presented at the court
and fined for having sold his beast without leave. In theory all the posses-
sions used by a villein were said to belong to his lord, but in practice he was
recognized as an owner of property, since instances occur of a villein buying
his freedom of his lord. At Kingsey there is the following entry at a court
held in 1317— 18, ' Et predicta Elena dat domine los. pro se et sequela s* sua
a servitute liberanda . . . .'
The legal disabilities of a villein were also very great, since the royal
courts only recognized his existence through his lord ; and, except in the case
of danger to his life or limb, he had no remedy against any act of his lord.
The Assize Rolls87 of the itinerant justices continually contain cases of land
suits being dismissed because one of the litigants was of servile condition,
owing to his descent from villein ancestors.
Up to this point the disabilities enumerated all resulted from the personal
status of the villein, but they were even more stringent with regard to his
land. Various classes amongst the tenants in villeinage were to be found, but
the terms of their tenure were all of the same type ; unlike the free tenants
they were distinguished from one another by the amount of land attached to
the different tenements. Generally there were two main classes — the cus-
tomary tenants and the cottagers. The latter appear under various names in
Latin, the most common being cotterelli and cottarii, but all refer to the lowest
class of tenants.
There seem to be no records in Buckinghamshire which show how these
two classes developed from those found in the Domesday manors. In the
11 llund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 27. " Ibid. 23.
* Cf. Bracton. Extracts in Digby's History of tht Lam tf Real Properly.
" P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 79. " PRO. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 16.
" Ibid. No. 1 5. * Assize R. Bucks. 54.
45
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
eleventh century there were generally sokemen, who often might leave or sell
their land at pleasure, ' villeins,' ' bordars,' ' cottars,' and ' serfs.' In the
earliest thirteenth-century records38 only villeins and cottagers are to be
found, the other classes having entirely disappeared. A fairly numerous
class of small freeholders had arisen, developed apparently from the sokemen
and some of the Domesday villeins.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the villein tenements were held
at the will of the lord, and in the latter period also according to the custom
of the manor. Each tenement was granted in full court to the new tenant by
the lord or steward, some outward token passing from hand to hand.39 The
rent and services were agreed upon, but the tenant had no other security
against ejection or the demand for increased services than the custom of the
manor. None of the royal writs and assizes, which protected the freeholder,
could be used by a villein to recover possession of his land. In practice,
however, the rents, fines, and services in each manor were fixed — all tenants
of the same size of holdings performed the same services, and no change
took place in them year after year — for it was of no advantage to the lord,
who depended on his tenants' labour, to make the terms of their tenure
impossible.
One of the most usual forms of grant for customary land is to be found
continually in the Fawley Court Rolls. A messuage and tenement were
granted to a man, his wife, and his son, according to the custom of the manor,
a heriot being taken on the death of each of them.
At other times customary tenements were practically hereditary ; at
Ilmer40 the eldest son possessed the tenement in which his father died on
payment of a fine, and subject to the widow's interest. The tenement, of
course, still had to be surrendered into the lord's hand, but custom decreed
that the son should have it back on payment of a fine for entry.
The tenant in villeinage could not demise or sell his land without leave.
In a roll" of 1331 at Westcott, Richard Audren was fined for having demised
his land at firm without his lord's consent. A few years later Thomas
Benhul 43 had exchanged i acre of land for another, and it was ordered that
the land should be seized into the lord's hand.
The new tenant in some manors did fealty to the lord,*8 though in theory
this was only due from free tenants.
Generally the widow of a villein was entitled to the whole of his tene-
ment for life on payment of the heriot ; this was called her 'free-bench,'44
but the phrase does not appear frequently. At Ilmer *° she held the whole
tenement only so long as she remained a widow ; on her re-marriage she was
entitled to have a house and 4 acres of land of the second-best quality in the
tenement in place of her ' dower.' ' Dower,' properly speaking, was only used
in connexion with freehold, but the similarity of the conditions led to the misuse
of the term in reference to a villein tenement. The similarity, indeed, was
so great that at Beaumond45 the widow of a villein had a customary right to
one-third only of her husband's land, the regular rule for a tenement held by
knight's service. In a few manors another kind of tenancy existed — that of
38 Inq. Hen. Ill, passim. 39 B.M. Add. R. 27030. "" P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 79.
41 P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 28. «lbid. no. 28, m. 7.
43 B.M. Add. R. 27026. " P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 15. 46 Ibid. No. 2.
46
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
the sokemen of the ancient demesne. Those manors which were in the
hand of the king in Domesday Book were known as the ancient demesne of
the crown, and always preserved certain characteristics which never obtained
in later acquisitions of crown property. In Buckinghamshire there were
only six such manors, Aylesbury, Brill, Wendover, Swanbourne, Princes
Risborough, and Upton ; but amongst the tenants there, as in other counties,
a special class of privileged villeins arose. Their fines were fixed and also
their services, and, still more important, a special writ, the Little Writ of
Right Close, ran in the court of the Exchequer, by which they could sue in
the royal courts for their tenements. In the thirteenth century at Bierton,**
a manor appendant to Aylesbury, certain tenants were summoned to answer
an assize of novel disseisin before the itinerant justices, but they pleaded with
success that they could only be sued by their special writ, being tenants of
the ancient demesne. These rights were continued even after the manor was
granted away from the crown, since Aylesbury and Bierton were then held
by the descendants of Geoffrey FitzPeter.47
The references to the later history of the sokemen of the ancient demesne
are rare, but such tenancies can be traced. At Brill, in 1254,** there were
33 virgates of land held in chief of the king, each of which paid an annual
rent of 5^., and performed five days' specified customary work. This in all
probability was the sokemen's land, for the tenements and services of ordinary
villeins would not have been mentioned, and the exact similarity in the rent
and services due from each virgate would scarcely occur in freehold.
At Aylesbury,*' in 1517, a Court Roll has been preserved in which the
suitors declare ' that all londes and tenements holdyn of the said manor within
the manor and lordshypp afor .... as well charter as copyhold to be
ympleted be writt of ryght clos after the custom. . . .'
At Princes Risborough the fines paid in 1 323-4 M certainly suggest
that their amount was fixed ; twice over 31. was paid on entry to a tenement
and 6s. for maritagium, but no more details are given for other years. As late
as the seventeenth" century, however, the copyholders, who were then the
only kind of customary tenants remaining, claimed that the manor had always
been reputed to be ancient demesne. The fine on death or alienation was
declared to be fixed at the rate of two years' quit-rent or old accustomed rent,
which had been zs. a year.
Another kind of tenancy was to be found on the manors of Langley
Marish " and Cippenham," in the hundred of Stoke. A class of tenants
called ' gavelmen ' are mentioned in the ministers' accounts at both places,
but there is no clue to their exact status. Probably the men held their land
by a tenure on the border-line between freehold and villeinage, but the only
definite statement classes them amongst the customary tenants, though their
services were very slight.
The terms of tenure, whether free or villein, within the manor were
closely connected with the system of agriculture generally known as the
three-field system. The arable land was divided into three large open fields,
* Assize R. 1 188. " Chart. R. 5 John, pt. 117, mm. 6, 7 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. *$ Edvr. I, 50*.
- Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 34. " Arch. \. 98. " P.R.O. Min». Accu. bdle. 761, No. 13.
" Exch. Dcp. Mich. 26 Chas. II, No. 46 ; Mich. 29 Chts. II, No. 18.
" P.R.O. Mint. Accu. bdle. 761, No. 17. " Ibid. bdle. 760, No. 4.
47
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
in which each tenant had so many strips according to the size of his tene-
ment, and the demesne land of the lord lay mixed with that of his tenants.
The rule of cultivation, each field lying fallow in rotation every third year,
was also followed by him. At Ilmer M in 1337—8 the demesne lands were
divided in the following manner : —
The prima sehona contained 35 acres, I rod, iaf perches of land, and was sown with corn.
The secunda sehona contained 62 acres, I rod, 34^ perches, and was sown with beans and peas.
The tertia seisana contained 57 acres, 3 rods, n£ perches, which lay fallow.
They were evidently scattered amongst the tenants' land, and it is
obvious that this division of the fields necessitated a system of cultivation
carried out by all who held strips in the field. The interdependence of the
lord and his tenants in the cultivation of the manor is clearly shown in
Domesday Book, by the careful enumeration of the villeins' ploughs, as well
as of those belonging to the demesne. The three-field system in itself had
no connexion with the manor ; but in Buckinghamshire, as in the greater
part of the country, the tenants of the manor also formed a self-sufficing
agricultural community.
Each tenement in a manor, as a rule, contained a messuage, arable land,
and meadow, with common right in the pastures and woods. The size of
a tenement, when given, generally refers to the arable land only, so that if
a man was described as holding J virgate of land, this would only refer to his
share in the open fields of the manor.
In the greater part of Buckinghamshire the land was divided into hides
and virgates. The tenants were generally classed according to the parts of
a virgate that they held, and virgatarius and semi-virgatarius are the names
found on several manors, while at Ilmer quationarius also appears. The cottarii
were smaller tenants, who held little or no arable land in the common fields,
but only a curtilage or garden.
The cultivation of the demesne land was originally carried out by the
customary tenants, for the performance of agricultural labour was the condi-
tion attached to their tenure. The villeins and cottars worked for their lord
a definite number of days in the week, as well as special boon-days at harvest
and other important seasons. The amount and kind of work varied in every
manor, and in theory was regulated entirely at the will of the lord, but in
practice it varied but little during a long period of years, and was fixed by
the custom of each manor.
At the opening of the fourteenth century a great revolution in manorial
economy was taking place. Instead of performing the actual services, the
villeins commuted them for a money payment, and the lord cultivated his
demesne by wage-paid labourers. The week-work was commuted much
earlier than the boon-work, for naturally the right to a supply of extra
labour at specially important times was a privilege of great value to the lord,
while the week-work was inconvenient to both lord and tenant.
In the ministers' accounts, however, the services are still given, as well
as their equivalent money value, so that the older state of affairs before com-
mutation took place is shown. The customary tenants worked so many days
a week, at any work to which they might be set.
" P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 79.
48
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
In Ditton " there were six customary tenants who worked, from the
last day of May to i August, every Monday, Thursday, and Friday ; in
autumn they worked every day except Saturday, but in both seasons feast-
days and vigils were holidays. At Cippenham " the smaller tenants worked
for the lord every other day in the winter half-year, but not in Christmas,
Easter, and Whitsun weeks ; in summer they worked every day in the week
for the space of five weeks and a day. The whole list of services is very
characteristic of the duties inherent in servile tenure. There were many
customary tenants each holding a quarter, or half, or a whole virgate of land,
but the work was accredited to the land itself, and not to the tenant for the
time being, proving that the custom of the manor had undergone no altera-
tion for a considerable time.
From each virgate one acre was ploughed and harrowed, both at the
winter and Lenten sowing time. Each virgate threshed and winnowed two
bushels of wheat and four bushels of oats, which were carried to the field and
sown. In winter the smaller tenants worked three days a week, and in
summer every day.
In hay harvest one man was sent from each of the i6£ virgates held by
twenty-five tenants to mow and make the hay of the whole manor, which,
it was reckoned, would take seven days. When the hay was carried each
virgate sent two men, probably for four days. Another 3 virgates, held by
four tenants, also sent two men each to carry hay for the four days.
Thirty-four tenants, holding 2of virgates, sent one man from each
virgate for seventeen days to hoe.
In autumn the twenty-five tenants, who held i6j virgates, sent two men
from each virgate, receiving no food from the lord, every other day from the
gules of August till the harvest was finished.
In autumn boon-work was also required of the tenants. The twenty-
five tenants sent three men from each virgate every other day, except
Saturday, receiving one meal a day.
Twelve gavelmen sent twenty-one men to reap for one day in autumn,
with one meal a day.
Thirty tenants, holding 19! virgates, reaped, bound, and cocked in the
fields an acre of wheat and an acre of oats for each virgate.
From harvest to Michaelmas they also worked every other day. Pre-
sumably the tenants did not work for the whole day for the lord as a rule,
for it is expressly specified that in summer and autumn after harvest they
were to work for the whole day, but there is no clue to the number of hours
that they worked at other times.
The meal given at the boon-day is also specified, every two men receiv-
ing bread, beer, meat or fish, to the value of \d. each, and \d. worth of cheese.
In 1322 and 1323" the value of each service per day is given, even of
the boon-work, but by no means all the tenants had commuted their services.
On the boon-days food was still provided, and the entry of money paid for
each separate work was very small ; but on the other hand the number of
tenants who paid an assized rent in place of all services due throughout the
year does not appear in the account.
u P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 760, No. 1 8. The account it dated I* Edw. II.
" Ibid. No. 4. " Ibid.
* 49 7
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Generally, however, in the fourteenth century, even in the list of
services such daily work as was done at Ditton and Cippenham is very rare.
The tenants did not go to perform any work that might be required of them
by the lord's bailiff, but their work had become a certainty, whether plough-
ing, hoeing, reaping, &c., so that one of Bracton's proofs of unfree service,
its uncertain nature, had nearly disappeared.
The different kinds of boon-work found on the Buckinghamshire
manors are interesting. At Cuddington M there was a customary service of
benerth, which obliged the tenants to sow wheat and barley for their lord ;
they received food from him, since in the reign of Henry V an economy in
the expenses of this food was effected by employing the farm-servants on
the boon-work.
At Langley Marish " benerth also was performed, and the custom of
ploughing the meadow. A boon-day at Islehampstead Chenies 80 was called
a 'Love-bone,' but nothing is said as to its purpose. At harvest time
at Langley Marish two boon-days were called 'Water Bedrypes,' at which
no beer was given as at an ordinary bedrype at Missenden. In other manors
belonging to Missenden Abbey" the harvest boon-day was called the Magna
precaria Abbathi.
The manorial tenants also made various customary payments for privi-
leges allowed by the lord. Pannage'8 for the right of sending their pigs into
the lord's woods was paid frequently, and the same payment was called
'Garshanese' both at Langley Marish63 and at Ditton.64 Derfold and bensed
are also mentioned at Langley ;65 the latter appears at Wendover,66 when one
pint of wheat from every virgate of land held by certain tenants was paid at
Martinmas.
At Brill a yearly payment was made of 4^. 6</., called variously ' Cleg-
gavel ' 67 or ' Clan gavel.' 68
At Monks Risborough69 certain tenants brewed two gallons of beer,
which they gave to the lord of the manor under the name of 'Tolcestre.' In
the fifteenth century the payment was commuted, each tenant giving ^d.
instead of the beer. In many cases in Henry Vs reign, however, some of
the tenants were presented at the manorial court by the bailiff for not having
paid the tolcestre.
Vaccage 70 or ' lactagium ' was continually paid, but perhaps it can
hardly be described as a customary payment, being in no way connected with
tenure. The lord's cows seem to have been leased to various tenants at so
much per head per year, the lessee having the calf and milk ; the same
system was followed with sheep, and in one instance with geese and fowls.
Agistment n was also paid for leave to pasture cattle in the lord's park.
This was sometimes paid by a whole township to obtain such rights in a
forest or chase. Thus the inhabitants of Salden 72 paid agistment for pasture
in Whaddon Chase.
68 P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 760, Nos. 15, 16. M Ibid. bdle. 761, No. 17.
* Ibid. No. 4. 61 Harl. MS. 3688.
" P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 764, Nos. 7, 4 ; ibid. bdle. 760, No. 4 ; Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 34.
68 P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 761, No. 17. M Ibid. bdle. 760, No. 18, « Garsanese.'
66 Ibid. bdle. 761, No. 17 ; bdle. 764, No. 1 1800. 65 P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 85.
67 P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 759, No. 30. «• Ibid. bdle. 759, No. 31. » Monks Risborough Ct. R.
70 P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 760, No. 14 ; bdle. 761, No. n; bdle. 763, No. »6.
" Ibid. bdle. 763, No. 26. " Ibid. No. 29.
50
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
On the other hand certain payments were made by the lord by custom
to his tenants. He paid ' Medram ' at Cippenham " at harvest time, and
* dyncr silver ' when the park was mown, but this must have been instead of
the food at a boon-day. At Ilmer,7* ' Medeship ' and 'Cartlof had been
paid, after all carrying had been finished at harvest, to seventeen customary
tenants, who received amongst them 6J. worth of cheese, and i()d. in money;
the custom, however, had been given up some years before 1343." At
Whaddon " medship was given entirely in money, 2s. 6d. being divided
amongst all the customary tenants.
At the time when the manorial records of Buckinghamshire begin, at
the end of the thirteenth century, the commutation of all customary services
had already taken place to a considerable extent. The change probably
arose from motives of convenience, as the old system was unwieldy, and the
tenants must have found considerable difficulty in working for the lord and
cultivating their own land at the same time, especially on the smaller holdings.
The lord, too, must have been served by very half-hearted and unwilling
workers, so that the change would be advantageous to both lord and tenants.
The effects were, however, far-reaching, and were indeed one of the main
causes of the break-up of the manorial system. The tenants had to be
replaced by farm servants working for a money wage, and not necessarily
holding land. These might be of servile birth, but the restrictions on their
liberty were greatly lessened when disconnected with the land.
To give any exact dates to the process of commutation is difficult, since
they varied on each manor and have to be sought for in records drawn up
with a different object. The earliest minister's account comes from Brill in
the hundred of Ashendon. In 1250—1 77 the expenses include the payment
of all work connected with the harvest, but both winter and autumn boon-
work was done by the tenants. The men with definite occupations were not
paid with money, but by the remittance of their rents, so that they were
tenants, not wage-paid labourers. On this manor there were 33 virgates,78
probably those held by the sokemen of the ancient demesne, from which only
five days' service was due to the lord in the year ; hence some other arrange-
ment instead of the ordinary system of work must have been made very early.
At the beginning of the reign of Edward I, however,79 all the men but one were
paid a yearly wage, extra men being specially hired in harvest-time, and in
1313*° the entry of operibus custumariis venditis appears amongst the receipts. In
other manors in the same district, on one side of the accounts there are payments
for work done by labourers, and on the other entries of ' assised rents ' and
' works sold,' and each kind of work in the lists of services has its fixed
equivalent in money. At Westcott81 all the work at harvest was paid for in
money in 1336 and 1337, and a tenant held a small holding of a cottage and
curtilage in villeinage for a rent of i id. a year and two days' work in autumn.
At Ilmer8' the services were valued and many tenants were paying commu-
tation money to the lord. In the Aylesbury district the same change had
also been taking place. The sum of money paid instead of services was often
" P.R.O. Mini. Accts. bdle. 760, No. 3. " P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 79.
'• P.R.O. Mint. Accts. bdle. 761, No. ^. n Ibid. bdle. 763, No. 30.
" Ibid. bdle. 759, No. 28. " Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 34.
" P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 759, No*. 29-30. * Ibid. bdle. 759, No. 31.
•' Ibid. bdle. 763, No. 19. " Ibid. bdle. 761, No. 2.
51
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
small compared with the value of the whole work, but some men would have
been paying a new and increased rent covering everything due from their
tenements. At Beaumond 8S nine tenants held their tenements for a money rent
for all services, but it is doubtful whether they were holding in villeinage or
not. One cottage and curtilage seems to have been a customary tenement,
but the tenant was not included in the list of the lord's bondsmen. In an
extent M of the manors of Missenden Abbey none of the tenants performed
more than fifteen days' service in the year, and generally only four days' mow-
ing, six days' hay-making, four days' reaping, and attendance at the great
boon-day were required. As a rule they were paying several shillings as rent
and were presumably customary tenants, when heriot was paid, but no
distinctions in tenure are actually made.
At Wendover 85 men were hired to help with the hay, and all reaping
was paid for by the acre in 1338.
In Stoke Hundred, at Cippenham in 1318 and 1319 8* apparently all the
regular work was commuted, but some thrashing was done by the tenants,
and at Langley,87 Ditton, and Datchet88 commutation was practically com-
plete except for boon-work. In Datchet certain work had been ' of old '
commuted for a fixed sum of money paid at Michaelmas. Whaddon, in
Cottesloe Hundred, is the only manor of which the minister's accounts are
preserved in which commutation does not seem to have taken place before
the middle of the fourteenth century, for there were no farm servants nor
had the tenants paid money instead of performing their services until 1356
and I357-89
Besides arable land the tenants of the manors held meadow and rights
of common in the pastures and waste lands. The meadow contained both
the separate inclosure of the lord and the common meadow used by both free
and customary tenants, but trespassing in the lord's meadow with cattle was
an offence presented at the manorial courts with extraordinary regularity.
The system seems to have been to inclose the "meadow until a certain date,
when all the hay would have been carried, and then to throw it open for the
cattle of all the tenants. At Kingsey, in I322,90 the whole body of cus-
tomary tenants had broken this rule, and were presented in the court ' pro
herba apperlata contra consuetudine in prato de la More.' The meadow land
was in some places distributed among the different tenants by lot, but though
probably the custom was an old one, the existing instances are found in later
records. At Aylesbury,91 in a rental of the reign of Henry VIII, two copy-
holders held pieces of meadow land that had come to them by lot. Rights
of common in the pasture lands were also attached to different tenements,
but the tenants in villeinage could only claim them by custom, which was
very generally recognized. In Bernwood Forest and Whaddon Chase the
inhabitants of the neighbouring manors had rights of common for their
cattle, and others again could obtain leave by a small payment. This was
the common custom in manors where the lord had inclosed his woods or
parks, agistamentum for cattle being a very frequent entry in the accounts.
83 P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 2. " Harl. MS. 3688.
85 P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 793, No. 8. " Ibid. bdle. 760, No. 3.
87 Ibid. bdle. 761, No. 17. " Ibid. bdle. 760, No. 18. » Ibid. bdle. 764, No. I.
90 P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 15. 9l P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. \.
52
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
In many of the pasture lands the tenants had rights of entry for a certain
number of cattle according to the size of their tenements, or for a certain
period of the year only. At Ilmer93 there was a pasture which was separate
from i May to St. John the Baptist's day, and common for the rest of the
year. At Beachampton9* there were three kinds of pasture in the manor —
first, the separate pasture of the lord ; secondly, pasture that was inclosed from
the Annunciation to St. John the Baptist's Day or the feast of St. Peter ad
Vincula ; and, lastly, pasture that was separate for two years and was then
thrown open to the commoners for the third year. At Newport Pagnel,
in the Bury Field the burgesses enjoyed rights of common for a certain
number of cattle, in later records, but the right must have been of ancient
origin.
In the woods belonging to some manors the tenants had also rights of
gathering firewood or wood for repairing their tenements. Such a system of
agriculture, carried on in common, and the work on the demesne lands,
performed by the tenants, entailed a considerable amount of organization.
As a rule, the lord put a bailiff or steward in charge of the manor, not only
to hold the court, but to farm the demesne land and watch over the lord's
interests. The labour services were supervised by one of the tenants, who
was yearly elected for the purpose. He was called the reeve, and in the
fourteenth century was chosen from among the bondsmen of the lord, among
whom his duties lay for the most part. The obligation of serving in this
office was specially mentioned at Ilmer94 amongst the customs of the tenants
in villeinage, and the reeve" was elected in full court by the customary
tenants only. The office was naturally an unpopular one, for its duties were
laborious, and constantly a fine was paid to the lord for exemption from the
service. One of the numerous instances in the court rolls occurs at Westcott,
when Thomas Benhul in order to be quit of the office paid a fine of 6s. 8</.
to his lord, a considerable sum of money at the time, especially when the
privileges attached to the office, the remission of rent and services during the
year, are taken into consideration. Unpopular though it was, the other
tenants certainly seemed to have supported the reeve in seeing that no one
escaped doing the work due from their land. At Kingsey the reeve and the
whole homage at the court** presented that a certain man had gone to work
for strangers throughout the autumn, and would not serve the lord when he
was required to do so by the reeve.
In spite of the commutation of services the election of the reeve con-
tinued to form part of the business of the manor courts, but his work must
have gradually diminished.
How far the tenants settled the arrangements for the common cultiva-
tion of the fields for themselves, or how far they were compelled to follow
the convenience of the lord's bailiff, is difficult to determine. The only place
where the tenants could meet was the manor court, and there the presence of
the freeholders who held land in the common fields was some protection for
the customary tenants against possible aggression by the lord. In different
manors by-laws were made, but no evidence appears in the rolls as to their
origin. At Kingsey there are various references to the 'statute of the
* P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 79. * Ibid. 800. " Ibid. 79.
" P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. z8. " Ibid. No. 17.
53
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
harvest' ; in I32297 the following entry was enrolled: ' statutum autumpnalim
concessum est quod in omnibus articulis suis ob . . . sub . . . domine tam
liberos quam natives.' At another court 98 two men were presented for break-
ing the statute, for the preservation of which two custodi autumpni had been
elected. In the other rolls, however, the orders are confined to questions
connected with the demesne, and hence take the form of a precept of the
steward or bailiff.
Another officer who superintended the work of the manor in the lord's
interest was the ' messor ' or hayward ; his chief duties were to safeguard
the lord's hay from the depredations of the tenants' cattle and to present their
owners at the following court. In the Fawley Court Rolls in the latter part
of the fourteenth century nearly every roll contains a long list of the present-
ments of the hayward. He was, however, merely one of the lord's servants,
as a rule receiving wages ; although in the earlier accounts he was often a
tenant whose rent was remitted in payment for his service as hayward, he was
in no instance elected by the suitors of the court.
While the system of customary service to the lord was in this state of
transition, the country was devastated by the most terrible of the visitations
of the plague, known in England as the Black Death. So great was the
destruction of life that the years 1348 and 1349 stand out as a landmark in
the economic history of the county.
The plague reached England in 1348, but in Buckinghamshire it was at
its worst from May to September in the next year. The rate of mortality
can be realized from the number of ecclesiastical appointments made at the
time. In 1349 the number of deaths among the clergy reached a total of
seventy-seven."
The same devastation fell upon the manorial tenants. At Salden,100 for
instance, the mill was empty, and all the tenants, both free and villein, were
dead except John Robyn, who held one virgate in bondage.
There are unfortunately exceedingly few records of the next few years,
and still scarcer are those that form a series both before and after 1 349. The
Whaddon minister's accounts are the fullest for these years, but the manor
was to some extent exceptional, owing to the late commutation of services and
appearance of labourers. In 1 348 101 there is a detailed roll, but no wages
were paid at all for agricultural labour, and all hoeing and mowing and some
at least of the autumn work was performed by the tenants. The only work
definitely commuted was that of collecting nuts, certain tenants having paid
\d. for every time the service was due ; in the following year,102 when the
plague was at its height in the county, the roll is nearly a blank. The next
account extant is for I35i103; there were still no stipends paid to farm
servants, but the money values of all services are given. Five years I0* later
there were eight servants paid by the year, and their wages form an item in
the accounts until I364.106 At Burton,108 where the same period is covered,
the accounts give no details at all, but simply record the whole profits paid to
the steward at Whaddon. At Kingsey there are three accounts, and several
" P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 155, No. 15. M Ibid. No. !8.
" Line. Epis. Reg. Bishop Gynwell's Inst. 1347-61. 10° Chan. Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill, pt. I, No. 21.
101 P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 763, No. 27. 1M Ibid. No. 23.
los Ibid. No. 29. 1M Ibid. No. 30.
"» Ibid. bdle. 764, No. 5. IM Probably Bierton, nr. Aylesbury.
54
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
for Cheddington, at different dates throughout the century, which show to
some extent how far the manors were affected by the Black Death, but as
a rule the practice of writing the accounts with full details stops rather abruptly
towards the close of the century.
Everywhere the result of the Black Death must have been a scarcity of
labour. From other sources, outside the records of the county, we know
that the labourers demanded higher wages, as they realized that they were in
a position to impose terms on their lords. They were answered by the Statute
of Labourers, fixing the maximum rate of wages that might be given or
received. The records in Buckinghamshire, giving ratio of wages, as a whole
do not show that a great rise was effected immediately after the Black Death,
but specially in the case of agricultural labourers it is difficult to get enough
instances to show what took place all over the county. In the hundreds of
Buckingham, Newport, Desborough, and Burnham there are no records of
such wages at all. Probably the conditions in Desborough Hundred differed
but little from those in the neighbouring districts, but the two northern
hundreds may have presented rather a different state of affairs.
It has already been shown that commutation of services had taken place
to a considerable degree before the Black Death, and that wage-paid labourers
were doing a large share of the work on the demesne lands in the thirteenth
century. At Brill107 in 1250—1 there were two ploughmen, one driver, and
one shepherd, but of these only the two drivers received money wages. A
few years later,108 however, one of the ploughmen and the shepherd were paid
in money instead of their rents being remitted ; and in autumn various extra
men were hired, such as a reaper and carter. In most manors a carter was
hired throughout the year, who, with a cowherd, swineherd, and dairyman,
completed the ordinary list of farm-servants. The general rule was to pay
the servants partly in money and partly in corn, and presents were often
added at Christmas and Easter. At some places men were employed only
for half the year,109 and frequently they received a very small sum of money
in winter.110
The carters and ploughmen were the most highly paid labourers,
the drivers receiving a little less. The shepherd was the most important of
the herds, and it is interesting to note that he was far more frequently
employed than either the cowherd or the swineherd.
A careful examination of their wages points to a very slight change in
the second part of the fourteenth century, very far from the assertion that
wages were at least doubled. In Edward I's reign at Beaumond m some of
the wages were higher than those to be found until an account for Cudding-
ton in Henry V's reign, but the driver at the earlier date received less than
the usual wages, which varied from 3^. 6</. to 4*. 6</.ni in the reign of
Edward III. The ploughmen usually received 6s., the dairyman jj. to 4_r.,
and the swineherd 3*. to 4J. 6</. except at Cuddington, where the rate of
wages was higher. These variations did not occur to so great an extent in
different years as on different manors.
l" P.R.O. Mini. Accts. bdle. 759, No. 28. "• Ibid. No. 29.
'" Ibid. No. 21, the swineherd at 'Bourton' ; ibid. bdle. 761, No. 9, the shepherd at King»ey.
"* Ibid. bdle. 759, No. 21. At ' Bourton ' the wages in winter were only half what was paid in summer.
"' Ibid. No. 15.
111 Farm servants who were paid by the year also received board and lodging.
55
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
A list of the Cuddington wages affords an instance where the wages
seem to have been unaffected by the Black Death, but the list at Cheddington
gives evidence of an entirely opposite effect.
Servant .
Carter
Ploughman
Shepherd .
Swineherd .
Dairyman .
Hayward .
Cowherd .
CUDDINGTON : WAGES BY THE YEAR
1336-7 U1 1380-1 m
6s. 8d.
6s.
6s.
6s.
6s.
6s.
35. 6d.
6s.
y. 6d.
I4i6-i7116
6s. 8d.
(master) IOJ.
(master) 8s.
2nd 8s.
2 others 6s. each
IOS.
6s.
6s. 8d.
CHEDDINGTON : WAGES BY THE YEAR
1298 '"
mi I17
HAI 118
\i6i "'
I 3 7 C "°
1 i ' l
'341
1 j"j
'375
Autumn Winter
t. d. i. d.
For I year
i. d.
Summer Winter
i. </. d.
Mich. Lady Day
». </. j. J.
Mich. Lady Day
!. d. 1. d.
Ploughman ....
„ (^d) . .
Driver
I 6} « •
3 o 14.
{'_•)
4. 4-
1° { i
1 O A.
60 3 o
4. O 2O
80 68
c 6 co
3 6 i 6
C O
A. O 6
Shepherd
3 o i 6
4- O
3O 4.
CO 2O
50 20
Dairyman ....
Swineherd ....
36 i o
i o 06
4 °
2 6
3 o 4
i 6 06
5 o "' —
3 o for I year
50 20
26 i 6
Thus at Cheddington there is a considerable rise between the years 1341
and 1363, but fourteen years later the wages were more than doubled, and at
Weedon,123 in the same hundred, there is a rise in the wages between i 377
and 1382.
At Whaddon, in the same hundred, the accounts present rather a peculiar
case, since no wages had been entered in the accounts till after the Black
Death. In i356,m however, the wages were 4.1-. Sd. for the ploughman,
dairyman, carter, and swineherd, and 6s. for the drivers, but no rise took
place before I363-134
On other manors in Aylesbury Hundred the rate seems to have been
similar to that at Cuddington, but in the hundreds of Ashendon and Stoke
the rate was slightly lower. At Kingsey m there were no carters, but seven
servants going with the carts and ploughs in winter. The wages for all
seven were 13*. for the half-year in 1360, so that each man received on an
average a little more than is. lod. The ploughman had the privilege of
ploughing his land with his lord's ploughs, and so received no wages. At
113 P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 760, No. 13. '" Ibid. No. 14. ui Ibid. No. 10.
116 Mins. Accts. belonging to Merton College, Oxford, rot. 5531. "7 Ibid. rot. 5541.
118 Ibid. rot. 5570J. "9 Ibid. rot. 5589. ' uo Ibid. rot. 5561.
121 In the previous year the dairyman received 5/. at Michaelmas and zs. at Lady Day. Hence the
omission in 1363 of the latter payment is probably a mistake.
128 Thorold Rogers, Hist, of Agric. and Prices, ii. m P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 763, No. 30.
124 Ibid. bdle. 764, No. 5. '» Ibid. bdle. 761, No. 8.
56
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
Ilmer wages were not paid to all the labourers till 1343. In the previous
year }2S the reaper, swineherd, and a maid-servant were paid in money, but
the carter, ploughman, and two drivers received corn in the field, each
receiving the produce of a certain number of acres of wheat and beans. This
payment was altered, and the carter, ploughman, driver, and shepherd were
paid id. a day and the dairyman \\d. a day, but this is the only case
where the regular servants were paid by the day.
Other workmen were employed on the different manors, and were generally
paid by the day. The blacksmith, however, had either a tenement, free of
rent or services, or was paid by the piece. Occasionally a contract was made
for the whole work needed for the demesne; at Wendover1*7 36^. and
four bushels of wheat were given in payment of all work connected with
four ploughs, the cart-horse and mill-horse. Reaping and mowing was
generally paid by the acre, but carpenters, thatchers, and sawyers were paid
by the day. The carpenters received ^d. or ^d. throughout the fourteenth
century, but the higher rate was more frequent, and the rise of \d. took
place, as a rule, some years before the Black Death. At Cheddington 1J8 the
carpenter was paid zd. a day in 1342 and 1344, but before that the usual
rate was 4^., and in no other place was he paid less than ^d. In 1372 the
rate rose to 6</., but afterwards dropped again to $d. ; and at Cuddington Ift
no change had taken place as late as 1417. The other workmen were so
frequently paid for themselves and a labourer that it is impossible to find out
their exact wages. The thatcher was paid id. or ^d. during the century,
but the higher rate in this case was more common towards the end of
Edward Ill's reign. Other labourers — digging, forking hay, hedging — had
usually 2d. or ^d. a day. Both rates appear throughout the fourteenth cen-
tury, but in the cases of these labourers a rise had taken place before this
period, for no men at all receive the wage of id. a day for any work — the rate
paid in a few instances about 1280. Women rarely received more than \d.
a day, and frequently only \d. or \d. At Whaddon 13° several women
received zd. a day, but there is no other evidence to show whether a general
rise took place in women's wages after the Black Death or whether this was an
isolated instance.
For the fifteenth century there are practically no records of the wages
of agricultural labourers, but during the building of Eton College the
wage-books of the clerk of the works give the wages paid for stone-masons,
carpenters, and their labourers. In the estimates for the college buildings "
in 1447—8 the free masons were paid 3-r. a week ; other skilled workmen
had bd. a day, and ordinary labourers ^d. These rates show that there had
been a considerable rise during the fifteenth century, and may have been
lower than in other parts of the country, for the men were engaged for
a long piece of work, and also had their tools found by the king. Several
times men were fined for losing their tools, an extensive system of fines
being adopted for the punishment of all small offences, such as telling
tales, playing, and most frequently for late-coming. At times common
labourers received as much as $d. a day.
"" P.R.O. Mini. Accts. bdle. 761, No. ». "* Ibid. bdle. 763, No. 1 1.
'" Thorold Rogers, Hiit. of Agric. and Pritti, it.
•» P.R.O. Mins. Accti. bdle. 760, No. 16. •" Ibid. bdle. 764, No. 3.
m R. Willii, Arch. Hiit. ofVniv. of Cambridge and Eton (ed. 1886).
a 8
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Besides commutation of services various other movements brought about
a change in the manorial economy. The lay lords no longer lived on their
manors, but they had to a great extent become absentee landlords, either
belonging to the court nobility or else serving abroad in the French wars.
In either case money was needed rather than agricultural produce, and often
it was far more profitable to grant away part of the demesne to various
tenants than for the bailiff to farm the whole land. Hence not only had
the need for personal service disappeared, but the servile status of the villein
was unnecessary since the lord no longer needed to keep a closer control over
him than over a free tenant. At the end of the fourteenth century there was
but little difference between a villein and a free man. He cultivated his
own land without interference, and the Court Rolls by custom secured him
possession of his land. He had also gained recognition in the statutes and
laws of the realm ; the Statute of Winchester especially, which enforced
the duty of all men being trained to carry arms. To some extent it was a
revival of the fyrd, and made no distinction between the free and unfree in
regard to their responsibility for the defence of the nation. On the other
hand, no definite national act of manumission took place, and all the
restrictions on customary tenants were enforced, if they were profitable to
the lord. After the Black Death they were probably enforced even more
stringently than before, and in the manorial courts no opportunity was ever
missed of exacting heriots, merchets, fines for entry and for leaving the lord's
fee, and various other payments — all causing greater discontent as the position
of the villeins in other ways improved.
The heaviness of these fines was probably the foundation of the cry for
freedom raised in the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. If the poll-tax, which was
the first tax to fall directly on the serfs, led to the actual rising of the men of
Kent, in other parts of the country the demand for freedom was the main
rallying cry of the rebels. The men of Buckinghamshire do not seem
to have joined the revolt, although the rebels were numerous in the
neighbouring county of Hertford. The Court Rolls early in the reign of
Richard II show no evidence of any disturbance, nor do they record the
flight of more men than usual from the manor. Little effort seems to have
been made to reclaim the fugitives beyond distraining their relatives to
produce them at the next court, a course of action which seems to have
had singularly little effect. At Whaddon, the smith, a tenant whose rent
and services due from half a virgate of land were remitted, left the manor in
1381, and did not do the necessary blacksmith's work. That he joined the
revolt is a pure surmise, but if the Buckinghamshire villeins took any part in
it, it must have been in such isolated instances as that of John Beaufitz,132
the smith of Whaddon.
The emancipation of the serfs obtained at Smithfield from the young
king was repudiated by Parliament, and the hope of freeing themselves at one
stroke from the remaining disabilities of serfdom and customary tenure had
disappeared. The rebels in many places had burnt the Court Rolls of their
manors, considering that these were the only witnesses of their ancestry, but
it was to the rolls that finally they owed the security of their tenure. The
repudiation was carried out by the two houses of Parliament, composed
'" P.R.O. Mins. Accts. bdle. 763, No. 8.
58
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
mainly of important landholders, the one class to whom serfdom was still of
some importance, but their action was in direct contradiction to the general
tendency of the time. The action of the law courts, always jealous of
private jurisdiction, especially made for freedom, and so without any great
Act of Parliament the customary tenants gradually obtained protection for
their tenure in the national courts of justice. A new formula was introduced
when a tenement was granted to a fresh tenant ; he held by * copy of court
roll ' or simply ' by copy,' as well as by the custom of the manor. At
Fawley IM the phrase first appears, in a roll of the year 1 409, but it is rare in
the beginning of the fifteenth century ; at Langley Marish in 1483 it had
become the ordinary designation for customary tenements, a presentment ls*
running as follows : * Et quod Johannes Waltys qui de domino tenuit diversas
terras tarn libere tam per rotulum curie . . . .' The copyholders gained
protection for their land by a writ in the royal courts, but the old dues were
still exacted. The sokemen of the ancient demesne were included among the
copyholders, though at Aylesbury m the little writ of right was mentioned as
part of the custom of the manor in Henry VII's reign. They clung to the
certainty of their fines, however, a privilege which was not attained by
ordinary copyholders unless they made special terms with the lords. The
security of copyhold tenure did not extend to the grants made of demesne
land at the will of the lord, but only to the old customary tenements, for in
various instances in the ministers' accounts ls* of the sixteenth century the
distinction is drawn carefully between tenants by copy and tenants at will.
If throughout the fourteenth century the tendency was towards greater
freedom, and in consequence greater prosperity amongst the manorial tenants,
there was a counter-movement which tended to their disadvantage. All the
tenants had rights of common for their cattle in the commons and wastes of
the manor, rights attached to the tenements that they held. The free
tenants had a proprietary right in their common, just as much as in the
other parts of their tenements ; but the customary tenants, whatever may have
been the origin of their common rights, were in legal theory only allowed to
enjoy them as an act of grace on the part of their lords. The importance of
such pasture rights was unequalled in an agricultural community, and hence
any inclosing of commons or waste lands caused great hardship to the
tenants. The fresh incentive to inclosure was the increased profit to be
made from sheep-farming, which was widely taken up by both ecclesiastical
and lay lords in the fourteenth century, though the movement had begun a
century earlier. Large tracts of country were amassed into one hand and
turned into separate pasture land, so that the difficulties in the way of arable
farming, due to the insufficient supply of labour, were overcome.
As early as I254137 there were complaints of the inclosing of parks in
various manors in the three hundreds of Newport. At Brill 1M the tenants
had been evicted by the firmer of the manor from their right of common in
a wood, for which they had already been accustomed to pay 50*. a year, and
had never made any default in their payment. The complaints grew so loud
in the reign of Edward I that the matter was dealt with in detail in the Statute
•» B. M. Add. R. 17150.
'" Arch. \. 98.
'" HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 38.
114 P.R.O. Ct. R. bdle. i, No. 6.
"• P.R.O. Min». Accu. 37-38 Hen. VIII, bdle. 56, L.R.
•"Ibid. 21.
59
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
of Merton. The influence of the lords was, however, so great that only certain
restrictions were placed on their powers of inclosure ; each incloser was
forced to leave a sufficiency of pasture for the tenants of the manor, but as he
was generally also the lord of the manor, he had the right to settle what
was a sufficiency for the greater number of his tenants.
In most manors of which records remain in Buckinghamshire the lord
had inclosed a park, which generally contained pasture, meadow, and often
a warren. The increase of hunting rights was a further grievance, which
interfered with the tenants' common rights. At Newport Pagnel 13'
complaints were made in the Hundred Rolls that there was a warren in the
common field of the town, but that was a case of rare and excessive oppression.
At Fawley, Langley Marish, Cippenham, Princes Risborough, Hanlee in
Beachampton, and Olney there were inclosed parks, but on all these manors
the bailiff still cultivated part at least of the demesne as arable land, for the
sale of corn continually forms part of the receipts in the bailiff's accounts, and
it is improbable that much land at this time was turned into pasture, but only
that commons were inclosed.
In the parks themselves the tenants generally had pasturage on payment
of a yearly sum of money, but if previous to the inclosure they had had free
common rights, this would naturally entail a considerable loss to the tenants.
Licence to inclose, after the statute, had to be obtained from the king.
In 1337 uo Sir John de Molins had leave to impark his woods in Ilmer with
100 acres of pasture in Beaconsfield, Burnham, and Cippenham. Eight years
later he had leave to inclose more woods with the 300 acres of pasture
adjoining them.
The movement was followed not only by the lords of the manor but by
the freeholders, and more especially by the firmors, to whom the lords leased
the demesne lands. Still in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries
sheep-farming was carried on to a large extent by the bailiffs of the manors,
for the sale of wool and fleeces was frequently entered in their accounts.
From a survey141 of various manors, assigned to the reign of Henry III,
the number of sheep is given on three royal manors, Brill, Aylesbury, and
Lectun ; but there is no account of the sale of the wool. In Stoke Hundred,
at Cippenham, Langley Marish, and Ditton, the bailiff sold considerable
quantities of wool ; at Islehampstead Chenies the lord had a fulling mill,
the rent of which had been increased in 1324—5, but in the hundreds of
Ashendon practically no wool appears in the accounts, except at Brill in the
thirteenth century. In the hundred of Aylesbury not much wool was sold,
but at Wendover there was a fulling mill in 1339—40, and about three
hundred sheep belonging to the lord.
The greatest quantities of wool were sold on three manors in Cottesloe
Hundred — at Whaddon, Cheddington, and Weedon.
The sheep-farming was probably accompanied by an increase in the
manufacture of cloth within the county. Elsewhere efforts were made to
improve the kinds of cloth made in England, and in Wycombe,142 at least,
amongst the Buckinghamshire towns, the burgesses were anxious to induce
weavers to settle in the town, by granting them immunity from certain fines
139 Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 40. 14° Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, iv, 546.
141 P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. R. 74. 10 Ledger of borough, 1316.
60
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
exacted from foreign tradesmen. Fullers and dyers were also to be found in
the town, but the cloth made was probably very coarse, since Buckingham-
shire wool compared unfavourably with that grown in the neighbouring
counties.
The tenants and farmers, so far as it was possible, also carried on the
more profitable system of farming.
In the latter part of the fourteenth century the practice was increasing
of letting out the demesne lands at firm, both arable and pasture land. At
Whaddon, where the sale of wool had previously formed a considerable item
in the bailifFs accounts, the meadows and pastures were all at firm in
1381— 2,1*3 and in other places parts of the pastures had been let still
earlier to both free and customary tenants. At Fawley lu trespasses in the
lord's pasture were very common, and quite small tenants were presented for
sixty and forty sheep at a time, and they evidently made serious encroach-
ments on the separate pasture, all tenants in one instance being ordered to
remove their cattle from the lord's pasture.
With regard to the manors that were in the king's hands in the fifteenth
century, the common practice was to let the whole manor at firm, sometimes
to one man, sometimes to a number of tenants. The firmors did not hold
the manorial court, or even receive its dues ; hence they had but little
interest in the customary tenants, and their chief object would be to make
as much profit as possible from the land itself by sheep-farming.
The tenants on some manors could also get leave to inclose certain
pieces of land on payment of a small fine to the lord, but it does not seem
to have been very commonly done. More frequently the inclosure was made
without leave ; and, though complaints were frequently made in the court,
little was done, unless the encroachment affected the demesne pastures, for
the presentment was made in court after court of the same offence.
The prices given in the accounts show that the value of wool increased
substantially in the fourteenth century. In many cases the price is given by
the fleece and not by the weight, so that it is impossible to compare them on
different manors and at different times.
The price of sheep also affords some information on the profits that
were made by sheep-farming. In three instances of the survey of the stock
on the royal manors in the reign of Henry III1*' all sheep are valued at 4^., but
in the fourteenth century the price had risen very considerably. The lowest
prices were 1 \d. at Cippenham,1*6 and is. id. at Wendover for ewes,147 while
at Whaddon the price rose to 2s. 8</. for sheep,1*8 but generally they brought
in about 2s. a head.
The records of the fifteenth century are very meagre as to details,
since the accounts merely record the payments of rents, &c., and contain
nothing as to agriculture or stock. Inclosing must, however, have gone on
apace, but the complaints did not become loud enough to influence the
government to interfere until the close of the century. The rentals and
ministers' accounts, however, show that many tenants had been evicted from
their land, and that many tenements were gathered into one hand. They do
la P.R.O. Mins. Accu. bdle. 764, No. 8. '" B.M. Add. R. 27161.
ltt P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. 74. '" P.R.O. Mins. Accu. bdle. 760, No. ?.
'" Ibid. bdle. 763, No. 9. "• Ibid. bdle. 764, No. 7.
61
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
not show that the arable land was turned into pasture, but the consolidation
of tenements into a few hands enabled the free tenants to inclose with but
little opposition. Three rentals at Haversham afford an illustration of what
was probably taking place all over the county. In 1305—6 there were fifty-
two tenants of all kinds ; in 1458—9 several men were holding two tenements
each, and, in consequence, the number of tenants had fallen to thirty-five.
Lastly, in 1497—8, there were only fourteen tenants in the rental ; of these
three held one messuage and half a virgate of land each, and one had only a
cottage, so that the remaining ten tenants must each have acquired a con-
siderable amount of land. At Fawley the number of tenants also decreased
during the same period, and at Cippenham in 1407-8 two virgates of land
had been definitely inclosed in the park, and therefore the rents were no
longer received by the bailiff.
Towards the end of the fifteenth century, however, the inclosers turned
arable land into pasture, pulled down houses, and turned away the tenants
and labourers for whom there was no longer any work. In 1490 an Act
was passed entitled an ' Act for keeping up of houses of husbondry,' but it
failed owing to the machinery for carrying it into effect being placed entirely
in the hands of those most interested in the retention of inclosures. Another
Act ' against the pulling down of towns ' was passed in 1515, which provided
a more adequate method of dealing with inclosures ; and was followed by
the appointment of a commission to inquire into the number and effect of
those already in existence. The returns for several counties are in existence,
amongst them being those for Buckinghamshire. The commissioners held
inquiries as to all inclosures made between the years 1485 and 1517, and the
terms of their commission especially were confined to inclosures for sheep
farming. The returns are made in very various forms, so that it is difficult
to ascertain whether in all the instances inclosure was followed by the con-
version of the arable land into pasture. Nearly 9,000 acres are included in
the Buckinghamshire returns, and in 81*5 per cent, of these it was definitely
stated that this conversion had taken place. With regard to the remainder
it seems probable that the omission was due to accident in the drawing up
of the evidence, particularly if the scale of inclosures in different hundreds is
considered. In the hundred of Ashendon 2,979 acres had been inclosed,
and in Newport and Cottesloe Hundreds over 1,800 and 1,100 acres respec-
tively, in all three districts the land being suitable for sheep farming. There
are practically no returns for the hundred of Desborough (48 acres in all),
but in Burnham 490 acres had been inclosed. There was, however, but
little land fit for pasture in these two hundreds, but good land for arable
farming, so that the incentive to inclosure for pasture would not be great.
A few years later Leland, passing through Burnham Hundred from Amer-
sham to Uxbridge, noted the ' goodly enclosed groundes ' that lay on each
side of his road, but of the inclosures returned in 1517 his way only passed
through Chalfont St. Peter. On entering Stoke Hundred, Denham again
was the only place along the road at which there were inclosures in 1517,
to the extent of 84 acres. Thus it is probable that the returns were made
only when inclosure was followed by the conversion of arable land into
pasture, though the land mentioned by Leland might of course have been
inclosed before 1485, or in the interval between 1517 and his journey.
62
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
The inclosures in Aylesbury Hundred are curiously small in extent, since
it lay in the centre of the Vale, and in the adjoining hundreds of Ashendon
and Cottesloe inclosures for pasture had taken place extensively. The
movement was at its height between the years 1491 and 1500, slackening in
the succeeding years covered by the reports. This was possibly due to the
fact that Buckinghamshire wool was of an inferior quality, and the price was
considerably lower than in Oxfordshire or Berkshire. Thus Buckingham-
shire farmers may have proved that sheep farming was not so profitable as
they had expected.
In the majority of the returns the amount of damage is estimated by
the number of houses destroyed and of ploughs thrown out of use. The
tenants were evicted with no compensation for the loss of their houses and
lands, and were reduced to extreme poverty. Much less labour was needed
on the pasture farms, and there was nowhere for the evicted tenants nor for
the labourers to go for employment, for inclosure was as frequent in the
neighbouring counties. Still, it must be remembered that the total inclosures
recorded formed less than two per cent, of the arable land under cultivation
in the counties making the returns, and that in the southern part of
Buckinghamshire but few evictions probably took place. Further north,
however, there must have been a great deal of distress ; the most serious
instances of wholesale evictions were at ' Birdston,' ' Dodershill," ' Littlecot,'
* Flete Marston,' and ' Hogshaw with the hamlet of Fulbrook,' all in the
hundreds of Cottesloe or Ashendon. At Birdstane a freeholder inclosed
400 acres of land and converted them to pasture ; four houses were pulled
down and sixty people turned out of their houses and lands, which had been
cultivated with eight ploughs, and ' the said town, hamlet and manor of
Byrdeston was now totally and wholly used and had for the pasture of sheep.'
At Doddershall 24 messuages and 24 virgates of land, each containing 40 acres,
had supported 120 persons with sixteen ploughs, but they had been turned
into pasture and the inhabitants had gone away in extreme poverty. At
Littlecote 84 persons had lost their occupations and land and had left the place,
* for the whole hamlet of Littlecot was devastated and destroyed.'
The lord of the manor, two freeholders, and a firmer had jointly inclosed
140 acres of arable land at Fleet Marston, evicting fifty persons, and only
one messuage on the demesne, with five cottages for as many shepherds, had
been left standing. A full account is given of the evictions at Hogshaw and
its hamlet of Fulbrook, which contained together 1 1 messuages and 390 acres
of arable land. From time immemorial these acres had been sown with grain,
and six ploughs had been employed on them, but the tenements were held at
firm by Ralph Lane and Roger Gifford from the prior of the Hospitallers in
England and of the abbot of Eynsham. The prior held the manor of
Hogshaw, where there were eight tenements ; Ralph Lane was in actual
occupation of the chief messuage of the manor and another smaller tenement.
The abbot held three tenements in Fulbrook, where Roger Gifford was also a
freeholder, ' seised in demesne of his fee.' The two firmors inclosed the
whole of Hogshaw and Fulbrook with a ditch, and ' kept and do now keep
in severally the arable lands and converted them to pasture and the pasturage
of animals.' Not only was the arable land thus inclosed and converted, but
the 569 acres of meadow and pasture were apparently also surrounded by the
63
\
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
ditch. In these five instances whole villages were swept away, so that the
tenants, their families and labourers, must have entirely lost their means of
livelihood, and but little help could have come from the neighbouring villages,
which had suffered only in a less degree. Everywhere the evicted tenants
must have joined the bands of vagrants wandering over the country, that were
becoming an increasing difficulty and a problem to the government.
With regard to the status of the inclosers, one fact is very striking in all
parts of the county. The ecclesiastical inclosers, whether lords of manors,
freeholders, or firmors, were responsible for an exceptionally small proportion
of the whole. The abbot of Notley inclosed 60 acres at Ashendon ; the
prior of Ravenstone, 48 acres at Ravenstone; the prior of Brad well, 300 acres in
Bradwell and Wolverton ; the abbot of Missenden, 80 acres at Great Missen-
den ; the prior of Snelshall, 20 acres at Mursley ; the abbot of Biddlesden,
40 acres at Thornborough ; the abbess of Elstow, 20 acres at Moulsoe ;
the abbot of Osney, 27 acres at Upton and 90 acres at Steeple Claydon ; and
the prebendary of Buckingham, 30 acres at Gawcott. The total amount of
land inclosed by ecclesiastics was only 715 acres, but it can to a great extent
be explained by the poverty and insignificance of most of the monasteries in
the county. Elsewhere it was the abbots of great monasteries who led the
inclosing movements, but when the ecclesiastical land was scattered in small
pieces of freehold in different manors, inclosure on a large scale was im-
possible. The lords of manors were responsible for the inclosures on their
lands held by firmors or copyholders, and therefore, if these are added, the
total inclosed by ecclesiastics is considerably raised, since the big inclosure at
Hogshaw was carried out on ecclesiastical land. Only one instance of
inclosure by a copyholder occurs throughout the county, and, curiously, it is
the only case in which the evidence was false. John Godewyn held i mes-
suage and 161 acres of land by copy of court roll of the prior of St. Frides-
wide's, Oxford, and 10 acres of freehold, both at Over Winchendon, and was
returned as having inclosed them for pasture. When his case was brought
on for trial it appeared that he had not inclosed the land at all, but had only
engrossed the two tenements. By far the greatest proportion of land was
inclosed by laymen of different kinds ; frequently it was done by the lords of
the manors themselves, who at this time seem still in many cases to have
farmed the demesne lands themselves ; twenty firmors, some of whom held
the site of the manor, or the chief messuage of the manor, form another large
class of inclosers, but ordinary freeholders formed the great majority.
At Castle Thorpe the remarkable instance occurs of a large inclosure
being made on a manor in the hands of the king, and by order of a royal
official, in spite of the statutes passed by Parliament. The bailiff had
inclosed 100 acres by order of the bishop of Carlisle, supervisor of the
lands of King Henry VII, and had evicted eighty-eight inhabitants.
The effect of his inclosure was to render the common cultivation of other
tenements in the manor impossible, and the tenants had therefore to give
up their lands.
The value of the land when inclosed was generally given in the return,
the average being 11*62^. per acre; the value on the large inclosures of
100 acres or more was considerably higher than that on the smaller inclosures,
the two averages being lyizef. and f)'%$d. respectively.
64
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
The inclosers had been allowed by the Acts of 1516 and 1517 to pull
down their inclosures within six months and to repair the houses on their
lands, and in the actions taken on the evidence of this commission much of
the land had been thrown open. The effect of the commission does not seem
to have been permanent. Much discontent was aroused in the country, and
the feeble effort at repression made in 1 549 by the issue of a * proclamation
for the laieng open of enclosures ' was of no avail.
The discontent finally burst forth in Ket's rebellion, and though most
serious in Norfolk, risings took place in other parts of the country. The
rebels hoped that the government would support them, believing that the
proclamation pledged it more or less to assist any movement against in-
closures. Holinshead describes the causes of the rebellion in the south of
England and the means that were taken to suppress it with a good deal of
detail in the following words : —
For where as there were few that obetad the commandment, the unadvised people presum-
ing upon their proclamation, thinking that they should be borne out by them that had set
it forth rashlic without order tooke upon themselves to redresse the matter, chose to them
capteins and leaders, brake open enclosures, cast doun ditches, killed up the deare, which
they found in parkes, spoiled and made havock, after the manner of an open rebellion . . .
First they began to plaie these parts in Sommcrsetshire, Buckinghamshire, Northampton-
shire, Kent, Essex, and Lincolnshire.
The rebellion in the west was put down with severity by Sir William Her-
bert, many of the rebels being slain and, quoting further from the Chronicle:
About the same time that this rebellion . . . began in the west, the like disordered buries
were attempted in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, but they were speedilie appeased by
the Lord Greie of Wilton, who comming downe that waie to joine with the lord privie
seale, chased the rebels to their houses, of whome two hundred were taken and a dozzen of
the ringleaders to him delivered, where of certaine afterwards were executed.
Ket's rebellion, followed shortly after the dissolution of the monasteries and
the renewed outcry against inclosures, has been attributed to the disappear-
ance of the old ecclesiastical lords of the manor. The new occupants of
these lands in Buckinghamshire most probably were more ready to inclose
than the religious houses had been, and whatever charity had been dispensed
to the evicted tenants was probably not continued by the new tenants in
chief or the firmors of the crown. They represented a new class of men in
the county, the lands often being held by merchants or lawyers ; amongst
the latter class, Sir John Baldwyn, the Lord Chief Justice, who was the
lord of the manor of Aylesbury, was a prominent example. Not only did
the monastic lands come to the crown in the sixteenth century, but each
of the numerous rebellions and plots brought the forfeited lands of traitors,
and whether the fee-simple was granted away or whether they were held
by indenture or letters patent, the new owner helped to swell the class
of country gentlemen who gathered all local power into their own hands.
Their influence in the county was but little connected with the manor,
which was no longer the centre of local government. The views of
frankpledge held in the king's manors show the small importance of mano-
rial justice. The constables or tithing men merely paid their fine due from
their township and occasionally made a presentment about the highways,
but all effective administration had passed to the justices of the peace. Not
2 65 9
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
only had the importance of the manor in the hands of the new lords or the
king's bailiff entirely disappeared, but even in the numerous places where a
manor had been in the same family for successive generations it had ceased
in the same way to be the unit of local life. Its place had been taken by
the parish. Within the parish the churchwardens, and later the overseers of
the poor, were the responsible officials, while constables and petty constables
of the townships made their presentments at the quarter and petty sessions
rather than at the court-leet of the manor. The justices of the peace trace
their origin to a proclamation of 1195, appointing knights to receive the
oaths from all men over fifteen years of age for the maintenance of the
peace. Gradually as the sheriff's power was undermined and the hundred
and shire courts in consequence lost their importance, the justices of the
peace sitting in quarter sessions formed the chief court for criminal justice
below the jurisdiction of the judges of the assize and became the chief ad-
ministrative and executive body in the shire. There was practically no
department in local affairs which did not come under their supervision in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The control of the police system, the
relief of the poor, and punishment of vagrants, licensing, the repair of the
highways, formed perhaps the chief duties of the justices. In I 562,149 in a
letter to Sir William Cecil, William Tyldsley, a justice of the peace in one
of the Chiltern Hundreds, describes very fully the local condition of Bucking-
hamshire. The Privy Council had issued letters to the magistrates of various
counties, ordering them to inquire into the administration of certain statutes.
Tyldsley writes in a most desponding spirit : —
There came also with them an ernest letter from the Cownsell which I do perceive,
hath caused in some shyres, a littell to be done, and in some shyres nothing at all. Yea
and as farre as I can perceyve they that had begone to do pretelye well, begyn now to wax
so cold that as me thynks, they be rather sor for that they have so well begonne than mynded
to continue.
In a postscript he adds : —
And yet me thynk I have forgotten one thing which I ought to tell you, which ys that in
all the hyther part of Berkshyr, they have done nothing at all, and hyt doith not onelye
hynder thys littill beginning that is here in Buckinghamshyre being so nere joyning
together, but also others that do border upon them.
For the inaction of many of the justices he finds excuses however ; they had
been away or at court, while with regard to Middlesex he adds : —
I do think they had no letters or else if they had, then surelye I think, that coming unto
Sir Roger Chomeley, they be utterlye forgotten in the bag of his cote and so nothing done
ther, for sureley he and Mr. Chydley can better skyll of the affayres of the cite then of
the country.
The writer had obviously the good government of his county very much
at heart, and the same may be said of all the justices for the next two cen-
turies. A great deal of time and trouble was expended by them on local
affairs, and the most celebrated men of the county sat on the commission of
the peace. In the further details of his letter Tyldsley gave a description
of the state of the county, and it was such as might be expected after the
long civil wars and weak government of the fifteenth century, followed by
the agrarian discontent and religious difficulties under the Tudors. The
"• S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 19, No. 43.
66
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
rich men were lawless and oppressive, the poor were suffering great distress,
and in many cases were disorderly and discontented. The ale-houses were
very numerous, being ' the stake and staye of all false theves and vagabondes.'
Wine licences were also the source of trouble, and no remedy was possible,
since the wine sellers were * my lord's servants or my master's servants, yea
or have such kynd of licenses and lycens out of lycens to them and their
deputies and assignesse.'
The power of the local magnates and their lawlessness had not been
successfully repressed, for since the keeping of retainers was only an offence
committed by great men, therefore it was ' of so much danger to be medelled
with at all, that hyt may at no hand be touched.' Again in the question of
tillage or inclosures 'hyt is playne sacraleage to medill whith those matters, for
they be all gintilmen of the richer sortt of men, that be offenders there in.'
The inclosure of land by the smaller freeholders had apparently been suc-
cessfully dealt with in 1517, since in the Domesday of Inclosures they had
been answerable for a considerable portion of the total amount inclosed, but
the commission had been powerless to deal with the greater offenders.
Vagabonds were numerous, and the repressive statutes might well have
been better obeyed ; the prevalence of robberies was attributed to the care-
lessness in keeping watch and ward and to possible connivance. ' Theves,'
Tyldsley writes, ' will be theves for they lak no frends and for watches be
kept indifferently well.' There arc no further letters with such a full
description of the state of the county, but in answer to the orders of the council,
the justices returned certificates dealing with special matters, such as the rate
of wages, the price of corn, poor relief, apprenticing, and the granting of
licences, giving all the information obtainable with regard to their adminis-
tration, until the records of quarter sessions begin, in the second half of the
seventeenth century.
From the fifteenth century the justices of the peace were empowered
to fix the scale of wages in their counties, giving a maximum wage, beyond
which no employer might go except under pain of a severe penalty. It is
generally supposed that these scales of wages were inoperative, and until
Elizabeth's reign, when the statute of 4 Henry V was re-enacted, the magis-
trates probably neglected to use their authority in the matter. Recognized
scales of wages are given in several Acts of Parliament, and the rates can be
compared with various entries of wages to be found in other sources at the
beginning of the sixteenth century. The maximum wage was continually
exceeded, and indeed the entries are rare when so low a rate as that fixed by
statute was paid.
It is difficult to obtain information concerning agricultural labour, but
the wages of carpenters, tilers, masons, &c., and their labourers are numerous.
By the Act of 6 Hen. VIII, cap. 3, master masons were allowed jd. a day ;
free masons, carpenters, plumbers, and men employed in similar trades had
6d. ; ordinary labourers ^d. ; but if food was received from the employer id.
less was given in money during the summer and id. less in winter. At
Wing"0 in 1537 and in the following years the wages correspond with these
rates — a mason had yd. and an ordinary labourer with his food 2d. Again, at
Burnham U1 a painter and his man together received is. 2d. and a carpenter
"• Wing, Churchwardens' Accts. UI Burnham, ibid. ; W. J. Burgess, ReeorJt of Bucks. T, 117-19.
67
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
8d., both just over the statutory rate ; labourers had $d. and 4^., and in one
case only ^d. On the other hand instances appear of a tiler receiving is. a
day and a carpenter 1 id., showing that in some cases the rate was exceeded
by a considerable amount. In the latter part of the century this became the
regular custom, and the wages actually paid to workmen were often double
the amount fixed in 1562 by the justices of the peace. The scale had risen
in all trades by zd. or id., and the allowance for food had also been increased
to 3</. At Eton IM the tendency was to pay the more skilled men wages above
the scale, and at WingU2a in 1573 a tiler got is. %d. a day or more than
double the rate fixed eleven years before.163 Similar instances continually appear;
hence the fixed scale of wages in 1562 may be assumed to represent not the
maximum but the minimum rate paid in the county to artisans and the usual
rate of wages paid to common labourers. It was drawn up in great detail,
showing many gradations, especially in agricultural labour, as well as
variations according to the time of year.
The rate of day's wages during time of harvest : —
Mower Sd. Mowers by the acre : — Oats j.d.
Man-reaper "jd. „ „ gross 8d.
Woman-reaper .... 6d. „ „ barley $d.
Common labourer . . . jd. „ „ wheat | , ,
Women rakers and cockers,&c. $d. „ „ rye J
From harvest to All Hallowstide : — Labourers T,d.
From All Hallowstide to Easter : — Labourers $d.
From Easter to harvest : — Labourers 6d.
ARTIFICERS
From Easter to From Michaelmas
Michaelmas to Easter
Master carpenters and sawyers . gd. "jd.
Other men jd. 6d.
Bricklayers, tilers, thatchers . . 8d. 6d.
Other men 6d. $d.
Rates of wages for servants at husbandry, &c. : —
1. No bailiff of husbandry shall take above 401. by the year and for his livery 6s. Sd.
2. No chief or head servant of husbandry shall take above 335. 6d. by the year and for
his livery 6s. 8d.
3. No common man servant at husbandry above 265. 8d. by the year and for his
livery 5*.
4. No man servant under sixteen, to take any wages but only sufficient clothes, meat,
drink, and other necessaries.
5. No unmarried woman servant above 2Os. by the year and for her livery 5*.
6. If under eighteen, unmarried, no wages but only meat, drink, clothes, and other
necessaries as shall be agreed or thought good by her master or mistress.
The condition of the labourer and artisan with the wages he received at
this time must have been considerably worse than in the fourteenth or
fifteenth centuries, owing to the rise in prices having been far greater than
the rise in the rate of wages. A carpenter during the latter part of the
fourteenth century received ^d. a day and in the fifteenth century from 6d.
upwards, but the average price of wheat at the two periods was 51. 6f</.m a
151 Eton Accts. Bks. 158a Wing, Churchwardens' Accts. 1M S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 19, No. 43.
1M Average taken from entries in Mins. Accts. for reigns of Edward III and Richard II.
68
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
quarter, 51. 5'2*/.m a quarter respectively. In the sixteenth century the prices
are unfortunately given by the justices for 1586-7,"' in a time of scarcity,
when wheat averaged $s. rid', a bushel, or more than eight times its value in
the fifteenth century, but at Whaddon in 1584 wheat was 19^. 4*/.ma quarter
in an ordinary year. Hence wheat had risen to nearly four times the value,
but wages, at the highest, to twice the rate in the preceding century.
Barley, which was used for bread in times of dearth, showed the same rise,
and the average prices ran from 4*. 57^. U7a and 3*. 4'53</.us a quarter in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but in the sixteenth century it was worth
over ioj.U8 a quarter, and in 1586— 7"' reached an average value of 22s. 8d. a
quarter.
It is interesting to note that this rise did not take place early in the six-
teenth century, for at Wing U8 between 1531 and 1539 barley varied from
3-r. nd, to 5-f. a quarter.
The price of wheat was so high that barley largely replaced it in
common use, and early in the seventeenth century the justices reported that
barley was dear, since it was ' the common feed of the poore."*
The restrictions on the freedom of all workmen under the Tudors are
important in their bearing on their prosperity, since they must have placed
them at a great disadvantage in endeavouring to obtain better wages. A
workman could not travel about the country without a passport, which he
was only certain of receiving when he had already obtained work elsewhere.160
The object of these restrictions was to ensure a steady supply of agricultural
labour and prevent men emigrating in great numbers to places where some
trade was especially flourishing. The fluctuations in the larger trades made
this to some extent a reasonable precaution. In I5621" there had been
appointed by the justices in every town in the three Chiltern Hundreds a
governor of labourers, and probably the same course had been followed else-
where. His duties were to present masters who gave too high a rate of
wages, and to control the comings and goings of all labourers. Without his
consent a man might not leave his town to work elsewhere, nor could any-
one apprentice his son to a trade unless he owned a freehold of 2OJ. value
a year, but the governor was to insist on the boy becoming a servant in
husbandry. When there was a scarcity of labour in harvest time the governor
was to apportion the men to different masters without partiality, and to compel
all journeymen and apprentices, if it was necessary, to work in harvest time
at the ordinary rate of wages. Again, no labourers might move from one
house to another or leave the hundred without giving a good reason to the
nearest justice and obtaining his leave.
Restrictions were also placed on the clothes of the agricultural labourers
and servants. The cloth worn by them was to be of * mean and low parts,'
"* Average only obtained from two manors, but the price of corn does not seem to have varied greatly in
different parts of the county.
* S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 199, No. 43.
"' Thorold Rogers, Hist, of A grit, and Prices, vol. ti.
1Ma Average taken from entries in Mins. Accts. for reigns of Edward III and Richard II.
"• Wing, Churchwardens' Accts. ; Thorold Rogers, op. cit.
'* S.P. Dom. Jas. I, vol. 140, No. 19. The rise in prices was due partly to the influx of silver into
Europe after the discovery of the Mexican silver mines, and partly to the debasement of the coinage by
Henry VIII and Edward VI.
164 This restriction was first made in a statute of 1388. " S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 9, No. 43.
69
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
and it was not to ' be jagged or cut,' nor was a ruffled shirt to be worn. The
same orders also applied to journeymen and apprentices, and tailors who
supplied any of the prohibited finery were mulcted 6oj. for each offence.
For the first half of the seventeenth century there is no scale of wages
given by the justices, but from other sources of information it appears that
a slight rise took place. At Wing m there was a parish mole-catcher who
was paid by the year ; he had formerly received 26s. 8d. from the church-
wardens, the maximum wage for a common servant in husbandry in 1562.
It was arranged, however, that the parish was in future to pay him only half
that sum, for work in Wing field and Wing mead, but that owners of
inclosed land were to pay him themselves for work that he did for them. In
another case, an artisan who worked in the church and must have been either
a carpenter or mason received is. 2d. a day. At Eton163 artisans' labourers
received lod. or is. a day. At Horton,16* where paper-mills had been estab-
lished, the workmen and labourers were said to be paid double the rate of
wages of ordinary day-labourers. When the mills were stopped during a
time of plague in 1636, the manufacturer petitioned for relief, and amongst
other items there appeared 45^. a week for his man and four apprentices ; if
they all were paid at the same rate, they would each have received is. 6d. a
day, considerably above the rate of artisans' labour elsewhere, but in all pro-
bability the apprentices would have had less than a man who appears to have
been the head man at the paper-mill. Unfortunately there is no mention of
the number of the other labourers for whom £5 a week was required. There
were, however, twelve paper-mills in Buckinghamshire in which a consider-
able number of men must have been employed at a high rate of wages. At
this time, however, the market price of corn was extremely high, and at
several epochs scarcity prices prevailed throughout the county, in spite of the
interference of the justices ; at Eton185 in 1600, at the close of a period of
dearth, wheat was42J. 8d. a quarter, but during the next years it had dropped
to 3U. 4*/. and 26s. 8d., the lowest price for several years. It was over 40^.
a quarter in 1607, and in 1622 the justices166 of the peace in the three
hundreds of Aylesbury reported that it had been as high as 6oj. a quarter.
Still it was the custom, in some parts of the county at least, to sell to the
poor at a lower rate, at the corn-masters' own houses, so that the market price
given by the justices does not show the real price paid by the labourers them-
selves. An adequate supply of corn in this long period of scarcity cannot
have been within their means, since charitably inclined people bought rye,
which was not grown in Buckinghamshire, and sold it at less than cost price
to the poor. Less than ten years later the justices were again forced to
regulate the sale of corn in the markets, since in Desborough Hundred w
wheat had reached the price of jzs. a quarter, while barley was dearest in
Cottesloe and Buckingham 167 Hundreds at 48^. a quarter.
Until 1687 188 none of the scales of wages drawn up at quarter sessions
has been preserved, but in that year the scale shows that the necessity of a
rise had been recognized by the magistrates, though with but little approach
163 Wing, Churchwardens' Accts. 163 Eton Acct. Bks.
164 S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 344, No. 40. 165 Eton Acct. Bks.
16; S.P. Dom. Jas. I, vol. 140, No. 19. 16? Ibid. vol. 142, No. 44.
168 Quart. Sess. Rec. 1687.
70
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
to the actual wages which masters were content to pay for labour. The laws
against masters who gave more than the legal wage were, however, not en-
forced; there are no presentments of such offences, and the bench "' of magis-
trates even ordered a master to pay his servant wages that were due to her
at the rate of 32*. for the half year, although this exceeded by js. the
maximum amount for the most highly paid woman-servants.
The scale shows, however, that agricultural wages were lower in the
Vale than in the Chilterns in the case of servants hired by the year. The
chief bailiff in husbandry had £6 in the Chilterns, but only £5 in the Vale ;
for ordinary farm servants this difference does not appear, all having £4, but
the boys both under and over sixteen received less in the Vale. The pay-
ment of boys from twelve years old was a new development in the seven-
teenth century, since in 1 562 no servant under sixteen years of age was allowed
to take any wages in money, but only his clothes and board. Another
feature in this scale of wages is the varying amount allowed instead of meat
and drink ; for a mower or reaper, the allowance was 8</. a day, but for men
hay-makers only $d.\ ordinary labourers out of harvest-time received ^d. ;
some women again had ^d. and others not more than ^d. The same varia-
tions occur amongst the artisans, the food allowance varying from ^d. for the
yelmers to SJ. for the more skilled artisans in summer, but the latter in winter
only received t^d. in lieu of food.
It is perhaps interesting to enumerate the trades which appeared in the
scale in order to show the commonest occupations in the county.
Free masons were the most highly paid artisans, then followed rough
masons, carpenters, plough-wrights, bricklayers, tilers and plasterers, gardeners,
and finally thatchers, servants of thatchers, yelmers, tailors, sawyers, and spinners.
The wages were fixed evidently with a view to regulating the payments for
agricultural labour and those trades which were practised in country districts.
The men in the paper mills, weavers and others employed in the clothing
trade, for instance, did not come under the magistrates' restrictions. As a
matter of fact the regular rate for ordinary labour seems already to have been
is. m a day with but little variation, though the legal amount was 8</. at
most ; but in the more skilled work the difference as usual was even greater.
Instead of is. zd. a bricklayer was entered as receiving 2J., a carpenter
is. 6d., and a plumber, whose trade did not appear in the scale of wages, had
2s. bd. a day."1
Undoubtedly the question of the greatest historical importance dealt
with by the justices of the peace was the administration of poor relief,
since the central government, as it gradually assumed responsibility in the
matter, acted almost entirely through the local magistrates of the county and
borough. In mediaeval times the relief of poverty was left entirely to private
charity. The monasteries gave largely and indiscriminately to all who came
to their doors ; the nobles kept open tables, while, for the old, almshouses and
hospitals were numerous all over the country. Large towns sometimes had
organized the charitable benefactions of their citizens by the action of the
municipality, but the government took no real responsibility for the relief
of the poor until the sixteenth century.
'* Quart. Scss. Rec. uo n. a day was paid at Ayletbury, Eton, and Wing.
171 Wing, Churchwardens' Acct».
7'
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
The first interference with the condition of the labourers was entirely in
the interests of the employers, to keep down wages and secure a larger
supply of labour, but nevertheless it was very closely connected with the
later poor laws. The Statute of Labourers restrained the liberty of the giver,
who was forbidden to give alms to able-bodied beggars, in order that they
might be forced to work for their living. In 1388 an Act of Parliament
admitted the right of those who could not work to relief, but restrained the
movements of all beggars and labourers. Servants who wished to leave their
hundred, either for change of work or for a pilgrimage, could only do so
when they had obtained a letter duly signed by the head man of the hundred.
Anyone, whether beggar or labourer, found wandering without such a letter
was to be put in the stocks and kept there until a surety was found for his
return. Even impotent beggars might not wander about the country, but
must obtain support in their own neighbourhood. At the same time various
Acts were passed for controlling religious endowments, which were continu-
ally diverted from their original objects.171
In Henry VII's reign there were further enactments against beggars
and vagabonds, with less severe punishments, but probably the offenders were
not very numerous. The views of frankpledge give little evidence that
the vagrancy question caused much difficulty, but at Newport Pagnel,178 the
case of a vagrant who was punished according to the statute was interesting
from the rarity of such a presentment at a court-leet in the next reign.
In the sixteenth century a great change came over the attitude of the
government. The question was no longer one of forcing men to work for
lower wages, but of providing work for the unemployed and food for them
at a reasonable price. This change was due to the great increase of vagrancy
resulting from various causes, but in Buckinghamshire undoubtedly from the
inclosure of arable land and its conversion to pasture and the consequent loss
by the evicted tenants of both houses and work.
How far the monasteries before the Dissolution had effectually relieved
the distress it seems impossible to estimate, but they were for the
most part very small and poor.174 Few but Notley Abbey and perhaps
Missenden could have given sufficient alms to relieve on any large scale, so
that probably the unemployed labourers had from the first swelled the large
body of vagrants. The rise in prices, due to the debasement of the coinage
in the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI and to the influx of silver to
the country, affected food before wages, and therefore the condition of men
who were in employment was comparatively much worse than had been
the case.
The crisis in the cloth trade must have affected Buckinghamshire less
than the neighbouring counties, though in some places a considerable
number of men were engaged in the trade, particularly at Wycombe.
In the municipal records of the town in the reign of Henry VIII there is an
order for weavers and fullers very much more stringent than the only earlier
order175 extant, by which weavers were to be quit of all dues to the Gild.
of Merchants excepting stallage in the market. The later order 176 laid
m e.g. Hospitals at Wjrcombe and New-port Pagnel. "* P.R.O. Ct. R. ptfo. 153, No. I.
174 Cf. value of different monasteries at the time of the Dissolution ; Dugdale, Mm.
m Municipal Records of Chepping Wycombe. I7t Ibid. temp. Hen. VIII.
72
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
various restrictions on tradesmen in the town. No person weaving or
fulling was to occupy more than one such trade ; he must have been either
apprenticed in the borough, or else brought up in his youth with craftsmen of
the same occupation ; no c occupyers of the crafts of wevyng, fullyng, or
clothyng ' were to * put forth any of their work to dy or full otherwise than
to craftsmen of the same boro' occupying that trade.' This was the earliest of
many orders to craftsmen of all kinds, limiting their freedom in their trades,
and though undated was probably due to the crisis in the wool trade brought
about by Wolsey's foreign policy in 1527- 8,m since its object was to protect
the established weavers and fullers in the borough from the competition
of new comers driven to the town by the loss of work elsewhere.
The distress arising from the various causes enumerated led to the
passing of a series of statutes terminating in the Poor Laws of 1597 and
1 60 1, and simultaneously the Privy Council, by means of orders to the
magistrates of various counties and towns, attempted to alter and amend the
economic condition of the country.
Between 1514 and 1569 there are many of the Council's proclamations
to be found amongst the state papers of the time. The commission on
inclosures has already been dealt with in its relation to Buckinghamshire,
but otherwise there are no returns of the justices of the peace in answer to
the letters of the Council, until the letter written by William Tyldsley, in
I562,178 apparently in answer to the instructions of 1561."*
The statutes dealt mainly with vagrancy, and the compulsory apprentice-
ship of poor children, but important steps were taken for the collection of
funds in each parish. No.t until 1572, however, was any advance made
towards a compulsory poor rate.
In 1547 an Act was passed ordering cottages to be erected for the
impotent poor, and in 1551—2 alms were to be collected in every parish
by collectors nominated by the householders of each parish. There was
no compulsion, however, on the givers of the alms, but their generosity was
to be encouraged by the exhortations of the parsons and the bishop.
The poor box is mentioned in 1562 in Tyldsley's report, and those who
made default in coming to church were to be presented by the church-
wardens, the collectors of the poor-men's box, or two of the best men
in every parish, once a month to the grand jury. The fines arising from
these presentments were to go to the poor box, but evidently regular
collectors were not to be found in every parish at this time : at Wing 18° in
the churchwardens' accounts they do not appear until 1577. The only
entries before that year record payments to the poor of varying amounts
on All Souls' Day.
In 1572 the justices and mayors were empowered to assess the poor rate
and appoint overseers and collectors. Those who resisted the exhortations of
the bishop to contribute to the rate might be taken before two magistrates
and imprisoned, but there was still no distraint on non-payment.
The necessity for a compulsory poor rate arose in the first place owing
to the vagrancy laws,181 which had ordered, that after a vagrant had been
"' The town of Buckingham luffcred when the staple for wool was altered to Calaii and sought relief
by an Act of Parliament 1535; Browne Willis, H'ul. of Borough and HunJrtJ of Buckingham.
"* S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 19, No. 13. "» Sloane MS. 152, foL 16.
'" Churchwardens' Accu. «" ai Hen. VIII.
2 73 10
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
whipped in the market town nearest to the place, where he was arrested, he
was to be sent back to his place of birth, or to the place where he had last
dwelt three years, and there work for his own living. The Act of I536183
stated that no directions had previously been made for the provision of work
for the returned vagrant, and therefore ordered funds to be established with
this object. In 1562 the report showed that the vagrancy laws might have
been better observed, and that the number of ale-houses encouraged thieves
and vagants to a dangerous extent. Ten years later the justices for the three
hundreds of Aylesbury made a return 18S showing that they had dealt with
eleven vagrants and conveyed them towards the place where they had last
dwelt. A certificate of 1577"* may also bear on the question of vagrants,
for the justices had drawn up a complete list of all inns and ale-houses in the
county amounting to a total of 422.
Various Acts had provided for the return of vagrants to the place of
their birth, but it was not till 1575 186 that any particular orders were given
for setting them to work on their arrival. The new Act ordered a stock of
wool, flax, hemp, iron, or other materials to be provided in every city,
corporate town, or market town, when so ordered by the justices, so that the
unemployed poor might earn their own living and the young be taught to
work. Houses of correction were to be built in every county, but of these
the justices make no return in the sixteenth century.
Apart from statutory enactment, the Privy Council made direct efforts
to relieve special distress. The years 1572, 1586, and from 159410 1597
were periods of great scarcity of corn, and, owing to the small area from
which markets could be supplied, the failure of the harvest meant absolute
starvation to a great part of the population. The council interfered, prob-
ably to prevent the disorders always following on a great scarcity of corn,
and in I586186 the returns illustrate very fully the method of dealing with
the question.
The justices of the peace apportioned themselves into small groups
in the different hundreds, and each group was responsible for carrying out
the council's instructions in one particular division. In the three
hundreds of Cottesloe,187 the magistrates reported that they had chosen forty-
three persons, who were divided into three juries, to make the necessary
inquiries. The juries found that there was very little corn to spare in the
county, ' for as many as have a surplus, as many need corn,' but those who
had such a surplus were ordered to bring it to market by weekly portions.
The justices themselves had called before them all badgers, bakers, brewers,
ale-house keepers, and malt makers, and had dealt with them according to
the instructions, in order to prevent the badgers and corn-dealers from buying
corn to re-sell at an increased price, and the brewers, &c., from using the
barley, which would otherwise be made into bread.
They had also set up in market towns and other places overseers,
' honest, and discreet persons,' to see to the carrying out of these orders as
well as to the relief of the poor, and, lastly, they gave the current price of
corn. A joint certificate was drawn up for the hundreds of Buckingham
and Newport,188 where the same procedure had been followed, but it was
181 27 Hen. VIII. m S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 86, No. 27. 1M Ibid. vol. 115, No. 27.
84 1 8 Eliz. cap. 3. "• S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 199, No. 43. 187 Ibid. (i). lai Ibid. (v).
74
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
added that the markets were not so well supplied as formerly, owing to the
counties of Northampton and Oxford having ' mad restraynte that none
maie bring anie corne oute of theire Countie in to ours, which before
were greater reliefe to us, than anie parte of our owne Shyre.' The southern
parts of these hundreds at least, contained a greater proportion of pasture
land than arable, so that they would have largely depended on corn from
other counties. The prices quoted were slightly higher than in Cottesloe
Hundred.
In 1577 the justices 189 were ordered to interfere in the wool trade, and
they returned a certificate to the effect that they had bound the ' Broggers
and buyers of wooll' in £100 a piece, that neither they nor their heirs would
buy any kind of wool that had been grown within the county beyond what
they or their apprentices were able to use each in his own house. They
were further forbidden to buy any wool in order to sell it again wholesale,
but the justices found that even those who had had licence to buy granted
them, had obeyed the proclamation of the council.
The legislation for poor relief of the sixteenth century was brought to
its conclusion by the Acts of 1597 and 1601, the latter in all essential points
a re-enactment of the previous statute, with certain amendments.
These Acts formed the basis of poor-law administration until the close of
the eighteenth century, and not only were they important in this respect,
but they seem to have been far more efficiently carried out than earlier
enactments.
The main clauses provided that the relief of the poor should be in the
hands of the churchwardens and four overseers of the poor appointed yearly
by the justices of the peace.
Poor children were to be taught some employment or apprenticed ;
adults were to be employed and stock was to be provided for those who could
not find work.
The impotent, the blind, and the aged were to be relieved and hospitals
might be built on waste lands for their reception. With regard to the funds
necessary to carry out these instructions a rate was levied on ' every in-
habitant and occupyer of landes,' and on refusal to pay it might be
levied by distress. The assessment was made by the parochial officers with
the consent of two justices, but any appeal was to be made at quarter sessions.
A county rate was also established for the relief of prisoners and for the
support of almshouses, &c., administered by a treasurer of the county
appointed by the justices. All beggars and rogues were forbidden to wander
about the county, excepting those who begged from fellow parishioners, and
licensed soldiers and sailors passing to their place of settlement.
This statute was supplemented by an Act for the punishment of rogues,
vagrants, and sturdy beggars. All old statutes were repealed, and justices
were to establish houses of correction to which vagrants were to be sent after
having been whipped at the place of arrest.
The Acts seem to have been well carried out. In the accounts at
Wing190 after 1615 entries are continually made of money paid to travellers
with a passport and to ' poor men,' the occasion not always being specified,
though often the relief is given on account of losses by fire, shipwreck, or illness.
"* S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 115, No. 8. "° Churchwardens' Accts.
75
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
The council by its direct action attempted to enforce the law, mainly
by means of letters to the justices of the peace. These letters were no
longer confined to special times of distress, but deal continually in the
reigns of the first two Stuart kings with the ordinary administration of the
poor law.
In the year 1603 was a visitation of the plague, and at Wing the church-
wardens paid 3-r. for two books of prayer in the time of plague and for the
letters of the council.
No Buckinghamshire returns exist during the scarcity of 1608, but they
are full in 1622—3 and 1631, dealing not only with the provision of corn
but with the whole system of poor relief. It is remarkable that the differ-
ence between private charity and public relief is unnoticed, and the justices
report their own action in the market and the charity of private people as
similar efforts to deal with the difficulty. There is an extremely interesting
return for Desborough m Hundred in 1622, including the report of the
mayor of Wycombe. The same course of action to lower the price of corn
was pursued as in Elizabeth's reign, and in addition corn-masters served the
poor at their own houses upon credit, which they would not do in the
market, — and thus the poor obtained sufficient food. In various parishes
men had bought rye in London out of their own purses for the poor and sold
it at less than cost price. The poor, as far as possible, had been given
employment, but their poverty was ascribed to the condition of the clothing
and bone-lace trades, both of which were ' much decayed and do daylie
fayl.' In consequence there were no means to set the poor in work, although
help was afforded so far as the stocks and collections of every parish allowed.
In the town of Wycombe there were as many as a hundred people out of
work, and other towns suffered from the same cause, since lack of employment
was far more serious than the scarcity of corn, and the poor could only starve
or steal in spite of the fact that the monthly collections in many parishes had
been doubled. Assistant constables had been appointed to deal with vagrants,
their numbers being too numerous for the ordinary constables, and many ale-
house licences had been taken away. In 1631 there are returns for the
greater part of the county. In Desborough Hundred192 in this year there was
a shortage of corn, though Wycombe market was well supplied from
Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Hampshire. It was the only market in the
hundred, and part of Ashendon Hundred198 must also have been dependent
on it, since there was no market at all according to the certificate, the land
being nearly all pasture and ' gentlemen's demaynes.' The market of
Buckingham also was well supplied from Oxfordshire, and hence, with the
suppression of maltsters and brewers, prices had abated.
In the borough m itself, the magistrates report that the poor did not
beg in their own parish and had no cause to beg elsewhere, since they were
all well relieved and given work, but the inhabitants grumbled at the heavy
weekly taxation more than the poor at the restrictions on begging. Vagrants
were few, because watch and ward were well kept, and the townspeople no
longer gave to strange poor when they might not do so to their own people ;
and further, a penalty had been imposed on those who relieved vagrants, in a
191 S.P. Dom. Jas. I, vol. 142, No. 44. 191 Ibid. Chas. I, vol. 191, No. 35 (iv).
193 Ibid. vol. 191, No. 35 (iii). 194 Ibid. vol. 197, No. 46.
., 76
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
by-law made at a court-leet. Vagrancy, however, was not a serious question,
since few vagrants came through that part of the country. Writing in July
the justices said that they had delayed apprenticing poor children, so that
they might work at harvest time for their parents, but in October thirty
children had been placed with masters, all living in the parish.
The reports from the hundreds of Cottesloe and Aylesbury show that
the administration was carried on in the same manner ; in the latter it was
again the custom to serve the poor with corn at the corn-master's house, and the
justices had insisted on a true weight of bread being sold in the market,
punishing bakers who sold false weight and appointing surveyors of weights
and measures in each town.
Whether the action of the justices, under the books of order issued by
the council, was successful is difficult to ascertain. The interference of the
council and the supervision of the judges of assize1" certainly produced great
activity amongst the justices themselves, but of the action of the overseers in
the parishes it is more difficult to form an estimate. The actual relief of the
impotent poor was entirely in their hands, as well as the provision of work
for the able-bodied. The town stock seems to have been kept up in the
various hundreds, but how the work was arranged does not appear. Probably
the labourers worked largely at their own homes, for at Wing there is no
mention of a workhouse. At Aylesbury, however, after the Civil War there
was a workhouse, where children were taught trades and the poor worked on
the town stock. No mention is made of its erection in the accounts, so that
presumably it was built in the first half of the century or still earlier. The
impotent were largely provided for in almshouses, many of which were built
in Buckinghamshire at this time.1**
The interference with the markets was attended with complete success,
though it was very unpopular at such a place as Wycombe, a large corn
market for the surrounding counties. A protest 1W was sent to the council by
the mayor, showing that the justices had perhaps defeated their own ends,
since both corn-dealers and farmers lost so heavily by the artificial low prices
that they would no longer set aside sacks for the poor as they had formerly
done. The justices, therefore, had themselves bought corn to sell to the poor
at less than the market prices.
This protest shows, however, that the prices were lowered by their
action, and that the interference was thought beneficial even by men who
were landowners themselves ; for John Hampden, Sir Fleetwood Dormer,
and Sir Robert Lovett were amongst the many landowners who were on the
commission of the peace at the time, and their action in the markets must
have been directly opposed to their own interests. No protests came from
the other towns, which were not likely to be affected so much as Wycombe.
After the Civil War the overseers' accounts1'8 for Aylesbury are preserved,
and show very fully the system of poor relief. Collections in the parish made
fortnightly amounted to from £3 to £4 in 1657. In the previous year
thirty-five persons were receiving relief in money, the amounts varying from
\od. to 6s. a fortnight, while the relief for the hamlet of Walton was entered
M Rcturni of the justices of the peace were at times addressed to the judges of assize.
"* e.g. the almshouse at Newport Pagnel was refounded by Anne of Denmark.
'" S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 177, No. 50. ™ The accounts begin in 1656.
77
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
in a lump sum of 6s. for the widows there. The recipients were all either
widows or children, the latter having been boarded out, but as their age is
not given no estimate of the cost of their maintenance can be formed. Their
clothes were also provided ; in the same year the entry under this head
included ' 2 aprons, 2 queafes, a paire of bodies, making two smocks,' for
3-f. i od. Clothes were bought for other paupers as well, linen for the poor
being a frequent entry, as well as outfits for boys who were apprenticed —
£i os. 6d. was paid for the clothes of 'Sam Bankes boy' when he went to
London as an apprentice. The overseers also attended to the repair of the
almshouses, but these do not seem to have provided house room for those sup-
ported, nor were rents paid out of the poor rates until 1670, when Mr. Diggit
received $s. 6d. ' for old Howes quit rent in Walton.' How the house room
was provided before this date does not appear, but the widows may have lived
as inmates or lodgers in other houses or with their children. In one case a
daughter was given zs. for looking after her mother, but this seems an
exceptional case, and relations were probably required to do something
towards supporting old people and children where possible. For instance, a
man named Anthony Todd died in 1677, and his children were provided for
by the overseers. Their father appears to have been fairly well off, since
the sale of his effects includes four mares, three cows, two heifers, seventy-three
sheep and lambs, a little corn and a wagon. William Todd (his relationship
is not specified) was required to pay 2os. per annum toward the maintenance
of the children, who appeared in the accounts as ordinary parish children.
A certain number of those who received relief may have also been
earning some money by spinning, the only form of work provided by the
overseers at this time.
In 1658, 1,493 lb. of hemp were bought at %d. a lb.,and the poor were
paid for spinning at the rate of \d. a Ib. Some of the yarn was then sent to
weavers, who received £3 4-f. \d. for their work, and finally the cloth and
the rest of the yarn were sold to various people, resulting in a loss on the
whole transaction for the year of £9 ijs. zd. The next year the spinning of
the yarn cost the same amount, \zd. a Ib., and some was sold at cost price,
the result being a greater loss. The overseers finally gave up providing the
work for the poor themselves, and contracts were entered into with two men,
apparently hemp-dressers, who employed the poor, receiving in all £8 IQJ.
from the overseers. The transaction still brought a small loss to the parish,
but only 8s. 8</., so that the contracting system must have been found far
more advantageous than the direct employment of paupers by the overseers.
The custom of paying house rent increased very considerably towards
the end of the century, and repairs were also carried out at the ratepayers'
expense. The overseers rented cottages for the paupers who could
not live with their relations. The same system existed elsewhere, for
the churchwardens and overseers at Ilmer were ordered in i68o199 to place
another inhabitant ' in the house where Emma Bigge dwelt,' a new door and
chimney being added to the house. At Hughenden leave was obtained from
the justices to build a cottage to provide accommodation for the poor, and
the lord of the manor had been petitioned for a vacant place on the waste
ground as a site.
m Quart. Sess. Rec.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
The scope of the relief given was gradually growing much wider, fore-
shadowing the practice of the eighteenth century. At Aylesbury payments
were made to men who were either ill themselves, or whose families
were ill. In 1671 there are several such entries, including payments to
Henry Pratt, the bone-setter, who received $s. for setting a shoulder or thigh.
Medical relief seems to have been given freely to the families of able-bodied
men, and indeed the above charges must have been beyond the means of an
ordinary labourer getting at most is. a day, but such assistance was also given
to men who could hardly have been in great need, such as the miller who had
3*. to take his child to the bone-setter.
Pest-houses in times of plague were also provided by the overseers, and
were carefully isolated and watched. At Aylesbury the greater part of the
expenses connected with the pest-house were the wages of day and night
watchmen, while the inmates seem to have been terribly neglected. Food
was provided, but the overseers were forced to pay compensation for the
sheep-racks and gates burnt at the pest-house to provide firewood. They
were not permanent institutions, but were set up whenever the necessity
arose, the last mention of one at Aylesbury being in 1781.
The theory also was gaining ground that if a man could not find work
he must be supported by the parish, in great contrast to the views advanced
by the inhabitants of Stoke Hundred100 in 1636—7, that when the paper-mills
were stopped the manufacturer must himself provide for his workmen, since
he had brought them to the mills. In 1679 two orders were made at the
Easter quarter sessions illustrating this change : at Whitchurch the relief to
Thomas Curtis was to cease, but the inhabitants were to keep him in work ;
at Ivinghoe there was a similar order to stop an allowance of 6J. a month to
Richard Fowler, provided that the parishioners maintain his children and
find him work. More severe orders were still issued. At West Wycombe a
man had been the recipient of 2s. 6d. a week, but it appeared to the court that
he was ' a man of very able body to work for his own livelyhood.'
An Act of Parliament was passed in 1691 in consequence of the growing
laxity of the overseers in giving relief, ordering that a register of the paupers801
in each parish should be kept, with the amounts they each received, and
should be produced once a year at a vestry meeting. No one else might
receive parish relief except by the authority of one justice of the peace or by
an order of the Bench at quarter sessions. This clause, far from effecting
the economy intended in the statute, was the main cause of many of the evils
which grew up in the eighteenth century, since the practice arose of any
magistrate ordering relief to an applicant without consultation with the parish
officers. The result was, naturally, a great deal of friction between the two
poor-law authorities, besides an increase in the rates.
The change in the attitude of the justices is shown clearly in the absence
of orders at quarter sessions restraining relief given by the overseers, which
had hitherto been frequent. Still, in the parishes themselves, attempts were
made to keep down the rates, which had risen steadily at the end of the
seventeenth century. At Aylesbury the total disbursements in the first
account were under £156, but in 1702 they had risen to £326 7s- IO^- In
*" S.P. Dom. Chat. I, vol. 34.4, No. 40.
*"' A lilt of pensioners for relief was kept at Ajlesbury as early as 1679 ; Quart. Seas. Rec. 1679.
79
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
that year an attempt to economize was made by abandoning the system of
paying rents for paupers' cottages, and the vestry decided that the almshouses,
which were in the course of rebuilding, should have lodging chambers built
over them, with chimneys in them, ' for receiving such poor into them to
dwell in as may discharge the said parish from payments of any rents after
the Michaelmas quarter following.'
In 1722 a further attempt was made to ensure greater economy by a
statute enacting that parishes might provide workhouses for the reception of
paupers, and that no one who refused to live in the house should receive
parochial relief. The building of workhouses followed quickly on this Act.
At Wing the repair of the workhouse becomes a frequent charge in the
accounts, and for some time the workhouse test seems to have been adopted
there as elsewhere. At Aylesbury it is possible that the almshouses had
taken the place of such a workhouse at this time, for the latter institution is
not mentioned till 1758, when it was resolved at a vestry meeting ' that under
no pretence whatever should the overseers pay or cause to be paid any sum
or sums of money for the relief of persons who refuse to come into the work-
house, and that after Michaelmas no rents will be paid or allowed.' How
long the workhouse with living-rooms had been in existence does not appear,
but the resolution shows that the old order of 1702 forbidding the payment
of rents had become obsolete.
The maintenance of the poor in the workhouse was carried out by
contracts, but the contractor lost to such an extent that it was decided to
pay him £95 over and above his contract by way of compensation. The
proceeding seems to have been exceedingly unbusiness-like and savours a
good deal of undue influence exercised by the contractor in the vestry. The
next year the overseers, apparently to get out of the difficulty, undertook
the management of the workhouse themselves.
Provision was made in various ways for the children in the workhouse ;
at one time twelve catechism books were bought ; at another payments for
schooling, only for boys, are entered at the rate of zd. a week for each boy.
The inmates of the workhouse were still provided with work, but
sewing and lace-making had taken the place of spinning. A considerable
number of silk lace-makers seem to have been regular employees at the
workhouse, since entries are made of payments of id. each to lace-makers
when they cut off; at another time they received 3^. to keep ' Caterin.'
The master or governor of the Aylesbury workhouse does not appear under
that name, but Isaac Wheeler, who in 1788 and the succeeding years
received a salary ' to look after the workhouse,' probably occupied some such
position. The question of the settlement of vagrants also involved a great
deal of expense. Appeals to quarter sessions were continual, and the object
of each parish was to prevent the settlement of anyone likely to become
chargeable on the poor rate. Since the Restoration the Settlement Acts
were made terribly severe, and the same tendency is shown in the orders of
quarter sessions. In 1680 any persons taking a tenement of small value in
any parish in the county, with the intent to become inhabitants, could be
removed to their last place of settlement, by the court, if they had been
warned to depart by the churchwardens and overseers. In fact if there was
the least future possibility of a newcomer becoming chargeable to the parish,.
80
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
he could be ordered to return to his last place of settlement. A few years
later the inhabitants of Princes Risborough appealed against a blacksmith of
Missenden attempting to settle within their parish. At Aylesbury £4 was
paid for apprenticing a boy named Joseph Rash for seven years, but half the
sum was held over as security that he would not be chargeable to the parish
for the next year.
Vagrants and beggars were a source of continual trouble, but these were
dealt with by the constables and not the overseers. In 1679 the poor of
Aylesbury *°* were forbidden to beg ; if they were found begging the con-
stables were ordered to take them to the house of correction, and they were
to be struck off the list of recipients of parish relief.
At Wendover an ale-house keeper lost his licence for allowing rogues
and vagabonds to lie in his barns and outhouses. Scotch pedlars and petty
chapmen, who wandered about the country in large numbers, were a
grievance, and orders were issued that they were to be publicly whipped
by the constables or tithing-men.
In 1688 at the Easter sessions constables were ordered to put the laws
against vagrants into effect, since their numbers had increased and they
formed a danger to the country-side, threatening women left alone in houses
in lonely parts when their husbands and servants were away at work.
Besides losses by theft, people were also in great fear of acts of incendiarism
on the part of vagrants.
Two years later orders were given to the petty constables as to the
necessity of keeping strict watch on strangers, and dealing with vagrants
according to the statutes. These orders showed that the house of correction
was becoming far more like a prison than had been the case formerly.
Ordinary vagrants without passes were of course to be whipped and sent to
their places of settlement. If this was not known, they were to be dis-
patched to the county gaol for work until they could be placed in service,
but ' incorrigible rogues and dangerous and not to be reformed ' were to be
taken before a justice of the peace and admitted to the house of correction.
There were houses of correction at Aylesbury, Wycombe, and Newport
Pagnel, and a fourth was provided at Buckingham in 1719, but was
abolished in less than twenty years. The governors203 received £30 a vear
paid from the county rate, and were supervised by the justices, for in the
Michaelmas sessions in 1684, a 'grand inquest view' was ordered to inquire
whether the governor at Wycombe performed his duty. This consisted of
seeing that the able-bodied labourers who refused to place themselves in
service worked in an orderly manner so long as they were confined in the
house of correction.
The removal of vagrants involved a great deal of expenditure, which fell
partly on each parish and partly on the county. The travellers who received
small payments at Wing throughout the seventeenth century must often have
been vagrants who were passing through the county to their place of settle-
ment. Early in the eighteenth century the justices complain of the extra-
ordinary charge for passing and conveying vagabonds and cripples. To the
constable of Little Brickhill alone £140 had been paid in 1708, and the
** Quart. Sess. Rec.
*" The post of governor might he held by a woman. Quart. Sess. Rec. Epiph. 1761.
2 Si II
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
applications for the office of petty constable at Bow Brickhill had been so
numerous as to arouse the suspicions of the bench that the constables had
made a considerable profit over this part of their duty. It was therefore
ordered that the yearly charge should be reduced to a certainty, and £80
a year was agreed upon as a suitable remuneration, to be paid to two men
recommended by the minister, overseers, and others of the parish. The
system of contracting for the carriage of vagrants was evidently found to be
satisfactory, and was adopted at various places in the county.
A scale of allowances to constables and governors of the houses of cor-
rection was also drawn up to regulate the treatment of vagrants on the road.
For food gd. a day, or yl. for each meal, was allowed ; the charges for the
hire of carts and sufficient horses was settled, and the constable or guide
conducting the vagrants received is. a day, including his maintenance, with
3</. per mile for his horse. If a vagrant died on the road i QJ. was allowed
for his burial, and the charge of the justices' clerk for making out a vagrant's
passport was limited to is.
Up to the close of the reign of George II the labourers seem to have
been prosperous, and the poor relief given on more or less strict lines,
able-bodied labourers not often receiving relief unless work was done.
The prosperity of the labourer was but the reflection of the prosperity
of the farmer in the early part of the eighteenth century, after the conclu-
sion of peace in 1713. The introduction of improved methods, encouraged
by the Board of Agriculture, brought great profits to the farmers and in-
creased the rents of the landlords, in spite of the low prices during the
peace. The inclosure of common fields was urgently recommended by the
Board, since improvements were impossible under the old system of common
cultivation. Inclosure was urged on the different parishes, for the purpose
of arable farming, and not for the conversion of land to pasture. In Bucking-
hamshire it had been recognized that much of the land was not suitable for
sheep-farming, being too heavy and wet, so that the inclosures at this time were
not accompanied by evictions. An Act of Parliament was in many cases obtained
for the inclosure of each parish, and the tenants of strips in the common fields
were awarded separate fields and meadows, to be cultivated in severally and
inclosed with hedges. The first Act was obtained to inclose the common
fields at Ashendon in 1739, and two more were passed in 1743 and 1745 for
Wotton Underwood and Shipton in Winslow respectively. Between 1760
and 1770 there were eight inclosures, and between 1770 and 1780 sixteen.
In the following decade the numbers dropped to five, but there were a series
of bad harvests to account for the decrease. The number rose between 1770
and 1780 to twelve, and between 1800 and 1810 to fifteen, and inclosures
were made continuously during the next fifty years ; other instances occur
later, but the rate of inclosures by Act lessened, and many fields must have
been inclosed under an agreement between the tenants.
Two reports to the Board of Agriculture,804 dated 1794 and 1813, fully
describe the methods of farming and the terms of tenancy which prevailed
in the eighteenth century. In the earlier report, the area of the county
was reckoned at 518,400 statute acres, and of these 91,000 odd lay in
104 W. James and J. Malcolm, Gen. View of Agru. of Bucks, (i 794), and Rev. St. John Priest, Gen. View
ofA&ic. of Bucks. (1813).
82
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
common fields, and 6,000 odd were waste lands, so that further inclosures
were recommended.
Uninclosed lands formed but one of the obstacles to improvements,
however, the terms of tenancy being a further difficulty. Some farmers only
held their lands by an agreement from year to year, and had therefore no
security for their occupation, and were not ready to sink their capital in their
land. Others had leases, but these were often for a short term of years, with
bad covenants with regard to the system of cropping. This was specially
the case with the common fields, in which the old mediaeval rotation of two
crops and a fallow was still the custom ; but near Hardwick the leases allowed
three crops and a fallow, though no clover. In inclosed parishes a better
system as a rule prevailed and turnips were introduced, especially in the
Chiltern districts, where the farming was good. Leases often contained
penalties for certain offences, such as breaking up pasture and cutting down
timber. In consequence a great deal of damage was done at the end of a
lease, the profit to the tenant being much above the penalty to be enforced.
The land in the open fields was held in strips by the yardland, which varied
in size from 28 to 40 acres in different parts of the county, and the tenants
had various pasture rights in the meadows and commons. Inclosure often
did away with these rights, and was especially a loss to the poorer inhabitants,
who could no longer keep a cow on the common. The baulks, or divisions
between the strips, which had been used generally for pasture, were now
ploughed up and the meadows were no longer thrown open after hay harvest,
hence in most places the number of cattle and sheep decreased after inclosure.
The Board of Agriculture also considered that all commons and wastes should
be cultivated as arable land, but the only commons inclosed by Act of Par-
liament about this time were Hyde Heath at Chesham and the Pasture and
Doggett's Furze at Olney.
In the common fields ploughing in straight furrows had rarely been
introduced, but the old method of starting in the centre and ploughing in a
serpentine form was still followed, to the great detriment of the crops. The
improvements effected by inclosures are clearly shown in the difference of the
rents of the two kinds of land. In the parishes of Aston Clinton, Weston
Turville, and Buckland, where the soil was good, the rents of inclosures were
double the rents in the open fields, and elsewhere they were very considerably
higher.
By 1813 dairy-farming in the vale, and to some extent in the district to
the north, had followed on the inclosure of land, and very high rents were
obtained for the pastures. The average rent, tithes included, was 4U., but
as much as £3 an acre was given in some places. In the south the rents of
the arable land were more moderate, averaging jTi o/. 6d. an acre, though at
Fawley it was let at from IQJ. to i8j., and at Horton at 45^. an acre. Sheep-
farming was generally on the decrease, though in some instances the breed of
sheep had been considerably improved.
In the Vale the inclosures were on a small scale, generally from 10 to
20 acres, in spite of their being mainly on dairy farms ; still some fields
contained 30 acres and upwards. In the south the inclosures on the arable
farms were on a larger scale.
At this time Buckinghamshire had ceased to be purely an agricultural
83
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
district, since a large part of the population were engaged in lace-making and
straw-plaiting, according to the census of 1801. The lace trade had been
.increasing throughout the eighteenth century, and silk lace, as well as the
older thread lace, was made in larger quantities. In 1794 the chief manu-
factures were lace and paper, but the number of persons employed in them
was not sufficient to affect the supply of agricultural labour, though the best
wages were higher than those of the ordinary labourer. In the later report
to the Board of Agriculture, however, lace-making and straw-plaiting occu-
pied a great number of women, and the farmers could get little work done
for them by women. Lace was chiefly made in the northern part of the
county, especially in the district round Newport Pagnel and Olney. At
Hanslope,205 in 1802, 800 persons were employed in the trade, the population
being returned in the census of the previous year as 1,289. Children were
sent to lace schools at the age of five or six, and both boys and girls were
able to support themselves at twelve years old. Men also made lace when
agricultural employment was scarce, and they could earn as good wages as if
they were doing their ordinary work.
Throughout the eighteenth century the ordinary labourer seems to have
had is. a day, but in the legal wages practically no change took place ; the
only exception was in the case of servants hired by the year. In the scale of
wages of ij6$*M all classes of servants were allowed IQJ. above the previous
rate.
£ '. d. £ ,. d.
Chief bailiffs had 6 10 o in the Chilterns and 6 o 0 in the Vale.
Ordinary servants 4 10 O „ „ 400,, „
Boys from 16 to 20 3 o O „ „ 2 10 o „ ,,
Boys from 12 to 16 2 O O „ „ 1134 „ „
This did not represent the real rise, for in 1794 207 the head man was receiv-
ing on an average 8 guineas in the interior of the county and 10 guineas in
the south, while a boy had 3 guineas and 4 guineas respectively in the two
districts.
This rise was not neutralized by a greater rise in prices. In 1 670 wheat
was sold at Aylesbury for 6s.ioa a bushel, and barley for 3^. and 2s. jd. a
bushel, but in 1702 barley was at is. yd., and the average value of wheat
between 1721 to 1784 decreased from ^s. %d. to 4*. i*/.209 At the close of
the century a series of bad harvests brought to an end the period of prosperity
and caused much distress among the labourers, although the farmers and land-
lords made great profits on the high prices obtainable for all kinds of corn.
Besides the bad harvests, the French war and the consequent heavy
taxation pressed most heavily on the labourers, in spite of the efforts of the
government to afford relief during the dearth. The two houses of Parlia-
ment signed an agreement to reduce the consumption of corn by one-third
in their houses, and similar action was taken by certain privy councillors,
•who sent a copy of their resolution to the lords-lieutenant calling upon the
magistrates and others in the counties to follow their example. In the
summer of 1795 the Buckinghamshire justices210 undertook only to use
"' Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, iv, 164. *oe Quart. Sess. Rec. East. 1765.
07 James and Malcolm, Gen. View of Agrlc. of Bucks. (1794). im Overseers' Accts. Aylesbury.
m St. John Priest, Gen. View of Agric. of Bucks. (1813). 110 Quart. Sess. Rec. Mids. 1795.
84 '
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
' Standard wheaten bread ' as defined in the Act of 1 3 Geo. Ill, in which the
flour used was to include the whole produce of the grain, excepting the bran
and hull. They ordered the constables of the different parishes to present
both the bakers who made or sold any finer bread and those who had bought
it; further, the justices undertook to reduce the use of flour in other food but
bread in their households, and the quantity of oats and barley consumed by
their horses, begging all other families in the county to do the same.
At the Michaelmas sessions"1 of the same year, after another deficient
harvest, the magistrates described the prices as exorbitant, and issued orders
respecting forestallers of corn. Any person, who bought corn, which was
coming to any market or fair to be sold in the same fair ; who made any
bargain for buying corn before it came to market ; who did or said anything
to enhance the price, or persuaded anyone to withhold corn from the markets;
who kept back their own corn — was to be proceeded against with ' the utmost
rigour of the law.' Corn growing in the fields might not be bought or
obtained in any manner with the intention of selling (excepting it was
obtained by demise, or grant, or lease of land, or tithes). All such offenders
were to be presented by the petty constables. The prisoners in gaol had
potatoes substituted for part of their allowance of bread ; churchwardens and
overseers and governors of hospitals and workhouses were recommended to
provide for the poor bread made of a mixture of wheat and barley, flour or
potatoes, and to distribute such bread, instead of giving the whole of their
allowances in money.
Similar orders were made throughout the county, but in i8oos12 the
justices admitted that they had failed in their efforts, in so far as they had
attempted to restrain the use of finer bread than the Standard Wheaten Loaf,
since the adjoining counties had made no such restrictions, and therefore finer
bread was freely imported into the county.
The rate of wages during this shortage is so closely connected with the
working of the poor laws, that it is impossible to discuss the action of the
justices to relieve the distress of the population without first considering the
operation of the Poor Law at this time.
In the later part of the eighteenth century a change took place in the
principles which ruled the administration of poor relief, a change based on a
philanthropic desire to improve the condition of the poor during a period
of great scarcity and distress. In 1782 Gilbert's Act, though mainly dealing
with the formation of voluntary unions of parishes with one workhouse in
the union under the charge of paid guardians, also ordered that only the
impotent should be admitted to the workhouse and the able-bodied were to
have work provided for them near their homes. In 1796 a further step was
taken ; the test of 1722 was abolished and out-door relief was legalized.
Legislation in this case followed the practice of the overseers, since at
Aylesbury the first entry of out-relief being given to an able-bodied man
appears in 1784, when is. was given to William Stevens 'being out of work,'
and in the winter such entries became very frequent. The weekly allowance
to the poor 'out of the house' was a regular entry; and roundsmen, or
labourers who were sent to work with various employers, but received
reduced wages from the overseers, were now entered for the first time. The
'" Quart. Sess. Rec. Mich. 1795. '" Ibid. 1800.
85
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
roundsmen increased in number with great rapidity, and the evil of the system
was recognized by the justices in 1795, but their remedy was even worse
than the system itself. ' The court,' at the Epiphany sessions —
took into consideration the having appeared to the Magistrates now assembled that the
mode adopted in many parishes of the County of employing all poor labourers indiscrimi-
nately as Roundsmen at an under price hath been attended with great inconvenience and
abuse and requires a speedy and effectual remedy. And it appearing to this court that the
following are at this time absolutely necessary for the support of the industrious labourer
and his family and that where it happens the labourer and his wife and such of his children
as may be able, duly and honestly perform several labours on which they may be employed
and yet do not earn the weekly sum after mentioned, the same ought to be made up to
them by the parish officers :
For a single man according to his labour.
For a man and wife not less than 6s.
„ „ „ „ „ with one or two small children Js.
For every additional child under the age of 10 years is.
The effect of this order was naturally the lowering of wages and a great
increase in the poor rates, for the farmers agreed in many places to give less
than the minimum fixed by the justices and the residue fell on the rates.
In 1785 the whole expenditure for the year at Aylesbury was
jTi,o6o los. o\d., but in 1805 it had risen to be £3,022 6s. yd. In 1789
five collections had been made at 6d. in the £, but in 1801 there were
eleven collections at the increased rate of is. The Buckinghamshire justices
had perceived at the end of five years the evils to which this system of
subsidizing labour led — lowering wages and pressing most unfairly on non-
employers of labour, tradesmen and farmers cultivating their land themselves
— and the report at the Michaelmas sessions of 1 800 showed them to have
been considerably in advance of their contemporaries in the theory of poor
relief. In an order ' respecting servants' wages ' they stated that great
inconvenience had been caused by the neglect in carrying out the Act of
1 60 1, a neglect partly due to imperfections in the statute : —
In many instances the wages of the industrious labourers in husbandry has been set by
agreement of the land occupants at a rate greatly below the real value of labour, as com-
pared with the usual price of corn or Common wages of Labourers in constant employ,
within the same parish and to which is then added under the name of relief such allowance
from the parish rates as the Overseers of themselves may administer or the Magistrates
direct.
That those labourers usually known as roundsmen (being of ability for fair and ordinary
earning from labour) are appointed on each occupant according to the supposed value of his
occupancy at reduced wages. It appearing at this moment they are paid in most parts of
the County only 6s. for the week and in some parishes as low as 4*. per week, being a sum
wholly inadequate for their labour.
The order further said that the remainder of the sum necessary for the
labourers' subsistence was paid from the rates, and was often a charge on
those who obtained no benefit from the labour. The bad effects which this
system produced on the morals, general habits, and industry of the labourer
was commented on, and a change of practice was advocated which would
throw the price of labour where it ought ultimately to fall. The only
practical remedies suggested, however, were an increased facility for justices
in dealing with the rate of wages, the enforcement of the Acts relating to
the wages of labourers, and the appointment of a committee of four men
to act with the magistrates of each hundred where such practices were the
86
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
rule, and to direct the clerk of the peace to indict anyone found guilty of
such a misdemeanour. They added in explanation of the second recommen-
dation that the Acts were to be carried into effect by the magistrates so as to
force the employer to pay an adequate price for his labour — a curious state-
ment, when the original object of the labour statutes is considered.
The court also stated with great emphasis that the appropriation of
money raised for the relief of the poor to able-bodied labourers was a gross
misapplication, and that the accounts of overseers guilty of such misapplica-
tion ought not to be allowed. Three parishes are mentioned as having
enforced the proper payment of their labourers — Whitchurch, Aston Clinton,
and Weston Turville. The following year the justices realized that the scale
of wages, last fixed in 1765, was far below the rates that ought to be paid for
labour, and therefore a new rate was to be drawn up. The new scale was
published at the next Easter sessions, and in it the wages for all kinds of
labour were practically doubled, the lowest payment of a man per day being
is. 6d. The rates for carriage were also increased, particularly in the case of
long distances.
The protest seems to have had little or no effect. At Aylesbury there is still
the Parish Labour Register from 1804-13, giving full details of the amounts
paid weekly to different labourers, still much below the full rate of wages.
The effect on the labourers themselves was all that the report had said.
As early as 1795 at Winslow they were described as having become 'very
lazy and imperious.' There was also difficulty in obtaining labour, since
men found it paid them better to do but little work and receive a large
amount of relief.818
In 1826 a large land-holder at Aylesbury was summoned before the
magistrates for having refused to pay his poor rate. His defence was that in
consequence of the relief given to able-bodied men he could get no one to
work for him. He had found 300 people waiting at his farm to lease his
corn, but even though he could not get in his crops for want of men, no one
of the 300 would accept employment, since they could do better with the
overseers.
The highest figure at Aylesbury in the expenditure was reached in
1 8 1 6, but the succeeding years showed a considerable decline, probably owing
to the appointment of a paid assistant overseer. This reform was due to the
recommendations of a Committee of the House of Commons, whose inquiry
revealed the worst features of the system. Few of their suggestions were
carried out, except the appointment of assistant overseers. At Aylesbury he
received a yearly salary of £52, an(i was able to devote the whole of his time
to the control of poor relief, with the result that the expenses were reduced,
till in 1826 the annual expenditure was less, by more than £2,000, than it was
in 1 8 17. In other parishes, however, no such reduction took place, an extreme
case being found at Cholesbury, where the poor rates had been £10 I is. in
1 80 1, but in 1832 had risen to £367. No further increase was then
possible, since the poor rate had eaten up the value of the land, and farms
were standing empty.
" The scarcity in women's labour was due to their employment in the lace and straw-plaiting manufac-
tures. In the former they could make from yd. to I/. \d. a day, and in the latter jo/, a week in some cases.
St. John Priest, op. cit.
87
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
The powers of the justices to grant relief were somewhat curtailed, but
no adequate reform was effected until 1834, when the new Poor Law was
passed, founded on the report of the Royal Commission appointed to investi-
gate the operation of the poor laws. In 1830 and 1831 there were riots in
various agricultural districts, resulting in the appointment of this commission,
and the condition of the labourers is fully shown in the answers to inquiries
made in various parishes. The riots were not serious in the greater part of
Buckinghamshire, but the cause was said very generally to be the adminis-
tration of the poor laws. The rector of Sherington 2U described how their
action created a hostile spirit between labourers and employers, and destroyed
all feelings of reciprocal dependence and goodwill between the richer and
poorer classes. The report from Amersham is interesting in this connexion :
there had been no disposition to riot at all, owing to the wants of the poor
having been supplied by charitable people. Though this may not have been
economically sound, the distribution of this private relief had resulted in the
higher and trading classes having much greater intercourse with the poor
generally. In parts where this intercourse had not been achieved the labourers
claimed exemption from all consequences of their misconduct and imprudence,
knowing of no limit to their legal exactions upon the farmer. They con-
sidered the stacks of corn as their own property and wages or allowances as
their right, gaining their demands by terrifying the farmers and burning
stacks. Even if an increase in wages was gained by these means the allow-
ance system continued, and no real improvement took place in the relations
between farmers and labourers. Lack of employment even increased, owing
to the great reluctance to invest capital in any form of agriculture.
The risings took place almost exclusively in counties where the rates
were highest and the tendencies of the poor law most fatally developed, and
within the county itself the disturbances were most severe where the adminis-
tration was the most imprudent. Everywhere the parish had stepped in
between the farmer and labourer as a middleman of the worst kind. In
most places the farmers had no interest in the labourers supplied to them
without consideration of the needs of their land, so that sympathy between
the two classes was killed.
The methods of giving out-relief were various : it was occasionally
given in kind, more often in money without labour, but the three most
ordinary methods were the roundsman system, parish employment, and the
labour-rate system. The roundsman system has already been described at
Aylesbury, but in the early days of out-relief it cannot have been on quite
the same lines. The commissioners described it as a system of paying
occupiers of property to employ applicants for relief, at a rate of wages fixed
by the parish, not dependent on services but on the wants of the applicants,
the employer being repaid out of the poor rates all he advanced in wages
beyond a certain sum. Parish employment was work provided by the over-
seers, generally on the roads or in stone-pits, where labourers were sent to
work in large gangs with little or no superintendence.
The labour-rate system consisted of an agreement amongst rate-payers,
that each of them should employ and pay out of his own money a certain
number of labourers, who had a claim of settlement, according to some
814 Poor Latv Com. Rep.
88
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
calculation of property. Such an agreement was made at Aylesbury m in
1831, when it was definitely stated that if a farmer employed any labourer
in excess of those due on his farm, he should only pay half the usual wages
and send him to the overseers for the remainder of the wages due.
The effect of this system was not only to depress the rate of wages, but
to increase the rates to such an extent that farming became unprofitable. At
Adstock agricultural profits were completely consumed by the rates ; near
Aylesbury forty-two farms were untenanted, and at Thornborough 600
acres were vacant in the hands of the landlord, whose other tenants had
mostly given notice to quit.
All such assessments of labourers on different farmers were made at
vestry meetings in the parishes, and no arrangement could be found that did
not press very unfairly on some employers. If the assessment was made by
the rateable value of a man's property, tradesmen, &c., had labourers sent
them for whom they had no employment ; or if it was made by the number
of acres in a farm, a large pasture farm, where little labour was needed, had
more men assessed to it than an arable farm, where double the number could
be employed.
On the labourers the poor law had an even more deplorable effect.
It was almost impossible for anyone not getting relief to obtain work, since
farmers could not afford to employ those for whom they were not bound by
law to provide.*18 At West Wycombe it was said that the notion of wages
as a contract beneficial to both parties seemed to be entirely obliterated.
The system of paying part of the wages for surplus labourers or for
roundsmen does not seem to have been universal in the county. It was the
prevailing practice in Adstock and the neighbouring parishes, Thornton and
Steeple Claydon, in the hundred of Buckingham ; and a general report
made for Ashendon Hundred stated that it had spread extensively in that
part of the county."7
In various parishes in Aylesbury and Newport Hundreds also it was the
custom to make up the wages out of the rates, but in the Chilterns they
were apparently little used for this purpose, no case occurring among the ten
parishes making returns.
An allowance from the parish made according to the number of children
in a labourer's family was not considered as paying part of his wages, and
was a very common custom. In the case of labourers working for individual
employers this allowance did not, as a rule, begin unless there were four or
five small children, but at Adstock a labourer with only two could claim an
allowance.
In fixing the rate of all wages, whether given by overseers or individual
employers, the size of the labourer's family formed the basis of calculation.
In the southern part of the county the scale fixed by the magistrates at
Aylesbury was very generally adopted, namely, 6s. for a man and his wife,
and is. more for each child, but at West Wycombe the scale began at 5*.
At Cholesbury is. each was not given for more than two children, and,
"• Gibbs, Hist, of Jjlaburj.
"* Sir H. Verne7 mentioned the case of a labourer who, being an old soldier with a pension, could
obtain no work at all from the surrounding farmers.
117 It was not the case at Oving.
2 89 12
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
apparently, no increase was made beyond four, a man with one child
receiving js., with two children BJ., but with four gs. bd.
In other parts of the county, particularly in the Buckingham and
Newport districts, the scale was fixed according to the value of the half-peck
loaf, three a week being allowed at Adstock for a man and his wife, and one
for each child, but elsewhere the allowance was sometimes less.
At Upton-cum-Chalvey the scale of wages was not only regulated by
the size of the family, since ' capacity, constitution, and age ' were taken into
consideration, and at several other places no fixed scale was adhered to, but
they can only be regarded as exceptions to the general rule. Leckhampstead
had developed a system peculiar to itself; no allowance per child was ever
given, but all children that the labourers were unable to maintain were taken
and kept in the workhouse. This established a workhouse test of the
worst possible character, falling on the children and not on the labourer ; but
the one saving feature in the system was the high wages fixed for a labourer
with a wife and three children. He received 14^. 6d. a week, or 4^. 6d. above
the allowance at Aylesbury. Frequently four children were maintained on
the same wages, rather than let them go to the workhouse, so that possibly
the system in the particular circumstances worked well.
Such a method of calculating the amount of wages led to a number of
improvident marriages, and a consequent increase in the population. Still
more was this the case when unmarried men received less than the married,
apart from the allowance for each child.
In the Chilterns there was, as a rule, no difference made, a good
labourer, married or unmarried, receiving the same treatment, and at
Burnham the comment was that such a distinction would have been an
encouragement to improvident marriages ; wages were the reward for labour,
and should properly be proportionate to the skill and exertions of the
labourer and not to the extent of his family.218 At West Wycombe,
however, an unmarried man received 4-r. if he was over twenty years old,
and 3-f. if under twenty, but a married man had 5-r.s19 Elsewhere there was
a considerable difference, as a rule the unmarried men earned only from
4-r. to 6s. a week, except in harvest-time, but a married man made 8s. to IQJ.
At Sherington there was a case of a married labourer having £i 31. 6d.
ordered for his weekly wages by a magistrate, but the size of his family was
not given.
There was another difference in the employment of unmarried men since
they were often only employed by the parish. In the neighbourhood of
Woolstone it was said that they were all roundsmen, paid by the parish at the
lowest rate, and in many instances they were driven out to seek employment
for themselves, so that boys of seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen were
induced to marry to establish a claim on the parish for support and main-
tenance.
A further result of the allowance system was the disappearance of piece-
work. In Desborough Hundred it was said not to answer since there were too
many men to be employed, and neither farmers nor overseers could afford to
18 At Upton-cum-Chalvey there was no difference for the best labourers, but ' feeling masters ' allowed
married men to do more of the hardest work by the piece, and therefore they had more money.
819 These wages were paid by both overseers and farmers.
90
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
let an industrious labourer work his hardest at piece-work. He would do
more than they could afford."0
Again, farmers did all they could to prevent a settlement being established
by their labourers in the parish, and so the old custom of hiring by the year
and boarding in had disappeared in many parts of the county. With regard
to the industry and skill of the labourers, the reports from the majority of
parishes complained of a great falling off, but the reasons given are not all
identical. In the Chilterns, as a whole, there was little difference in point of
skill ; Farnham Royal was the one instance where it was increasing, but
throughout the district drunkenness was a new and growing difficulty."1
At Bledlow the labourers were said to have less energy in their work
and to give less time to it, but that the wages too were less ; their actual
efficiency was, however, much the same. Elsewhere the unprofitable
employment of men in gangs, or as roundsmen, was the chief cause of the
decrease in the quality of labour. The wages were extremely low,2" and no
superintendence was exercised over the gangs of workmen, hence there was
no check upon idleness. A labourer said to Sir H. Verney, ' I had much
rather have parish work which does not exhaust my strength than farmer's
work and another shilling a week.'
At Steeple Claydon the causes of deterioration were summed up as the
round system, low wages, want of constant employment, and worse food, since
the labourers were no longer boarded in their masters' houses.
Another evil which arose from the poor relief was the habit of changing
masters, but it was generally due to the farmers, who did not wish to hire a
man for a long period."3 On the other hand, men had no fear of want by
leaving a place, since the parish gave them as much whether they worked
hard or not, and by working for the parish there was more time for working
in their gardens, &c.
The two cases at Burnham and Leckhampstead, where the best labourers
were employed on the same farms all the year round, and some of them at
the same farm for many years, were but rare exceptions, the majority of
farmers employing men sent to them at the choice of the overseers of the
poor.
In the parishes making returns to the commissioners in 1832, which
were situated in the southern part of the county, there had been practically
no riots at all ; but in the neighbourhood of Wycombe and Colnbrook "* the
disturbances had been serious. The paper mills in the valleys of the Wye
and the Colne were burnt down, and many men were convicted of riot and
arson, and suffered imprisonment or transportation. At Adstock, Bledlow,
Steeple Claydon, Oving, Sherington, and Turville, the disturbances were
attributed to want of employment, low wages, and the poor laws. At
Turville the rising was due to ' distress driving to desperation,' and only at
Oving was there a suggestion that new machinery was unpopular. The
"° But compare note on Upton-cum-Chalvey.
nl Beer-shops had sprung up in out-of-the-way comers, and are specially mentioned at Denham, Fawley,
and Taplow.
m At Whitchurch and Oving the wages at the stone-pits were $J. a day.
"' At Sherington, owing to the labour-assessment system, a farmer could not be certain of having the men
whom he would have been willing to employ for a long period sent to him by the overseen. A worse
workman might suddenly be substituted.
"• J. K. Fowler, Recoil, of Old Country Lift.
91
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
opportunities for planning the riots in all parts were found in the congregation
of large numbers of men in the stone-pits and on the roads, doing little work
under no supervision, or else in the beer-shops in out-of-the-way places. The
labourers in the north did not take part in the risings to so serious a degree,
possibly because of the extra employment in lace-making. The rate of wages
was also slightly better than in the southern districts. The riots were
certainly successful in their object in many cases, and higher wages at least
were obtained by unmarried labourers, but as late as 1834 a riot took place at
Aylesbury, the able-bodied paupers demanding higher wages.
The report of the Royal Commission was followed by the Poor Law
Amendment Act. The more important of its regulations were the appoint-
ment of the central board to control the local administration, the formation
of unions of parishes, each with a common workhouse for the district, and
the institution of the workhouse test in the case of all able-bodied persons
applying for relief. This brought to an end the whole system of allowances,
parish labour, or roundsmen, and in the future all labourers were paid their
wages by the master for whom they were working.
Not only did the artificial depression of wages cease, but the labourer
was no longer prevented from seeking better work in other parts of the
country by the necessity of remaining in his place of settlement.
At first a good deal of hardship must have ensued, especially as the price
of corn was still high. It had dropped to some extent after the conclusion of
peace, but in 1830, the wheat used in Aylesbury225 gaol was bought at prices
varying from £2 ijs. ^\d. a quarter to £3 I is. yd. a quarter ; flour was I is.
a bushel, and the i Ib. loaf of bread 2\d. to z\d. On the repeal of the
Corn Laws the fall in the price of wheat improved the purchasing power of
the labourer's wages, though these were not higher than 9^. or IQJ. a week
in the Vale, and 8j. in the Chilterns in i85o.226 After the poor-law
reform a rise had been effected, since in 1847, while higher prices still
prevailed, wages had been zs. or 3-r. a week more than in 1850. Foreign
competition affected the farmers in the Vale less than those in the Chilterns,
since dairy-farming was not influenced by the low prices. The nearness of
London provided the best market for butter and fat cattle, and 50^. an acre
was paid for the best grazing lands, while the comparatively high poor rates
caused but few complaints. As early as 1804 a market at Aylesbury for fat
cattle, in addition to the ordinary weekly cattle market, had been established,
and on the opening up of the country by railway communication fresh
facilities were afforded for supplying the London market. The population
was not large, and few labourers were out of employment, although only ten
to fourteen men were employed on a dairy farm of 300 to 400 acres.
In the Chiltern districts the low prices of corn occasioned very general
complaints. The farmer could not make arable farming pay when wheat was
less than 56^. to 64*. a quarter, and his rents had not fallen at all, the average
being 30^. an acre. Rather lower rents were paid in the south-eastern part
of the county, and market gardens were established near London.
As a rule the covenants as to cropping had died out, and the landlords
did not interfere, but some leases enforcing the rotation of three crops and a
fallow still existed.
m Quart. Sess. Rec. fle Caird, Brit. Agrlc. 1850-1.
92
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
The labourer's position had been improved to a great extent by the new
poor law, the low prices, and higher wages, but in the middle of the nine-
teenth century he had lost to a great extent the extra income obtained by his
family by lace-making and straw-plaiting. By the introduction of machinery
a much cheaper lace was made, and a foreign straw plait began to be imported
into the country, which to a great extent ruined the industry in Buckingham-
shire.
In the Amersham Union district a large number of people belong to
benefit societies, but elsewhere the old people come very largely on the rates,
and even where lace-making and straw-plaiting can still give some occupation
to women the earnings are extremely small. The low rate of wages largely
accounts for this, but that labourers have been able to save was shown in the
small holdings of a few acres,8*7 taken up at Claydon by labourers, who had
been earning 14*. a week.
In the Chilterns the farmers have suffered far more than in the Vale
during the agricultural depression. In 1894"* the rents of rich pasture lands
had fallen much less than those of purely arable land, in spite of the fact that
dairy produce also had fallen in price very considerably. The farmers,
however, complained less of railway rates than is common elsewhere, owing
to the competition between the three railway companies whose lines run
through the county. At that time there was no shortage of labour on the
farms in the Vale, but in many places it is an increasing difficulty in the way
of agriculture. The railway works at Wolverton, for instance, draw many
young men in the district away from agricultural work, attracted by the
higher wages paid at the works.
The average wage for the county for a labourer is 14^. 6</., but the
actual rate differs considerably not only in different districts, but on different
farms in the same neighbourhood. Thus on two farms in the Claydon
district there is a difference of is. in the wages paid to all classes of
labourers.*"
An interesting experiment has been made in the three Claydons of
establishing village libraries830 under the Public Libraries Acts. In towns
the free library supported by the rates has become a well-known institution,
but in villages it has been thought to be impossible. In these Buckingham-
shire villages, however, successful libraries have been established, and Middle
Claydon claims the distinction of being the first village in England at which
such a library has been opened. The neighbouring places also share the
benefits of the libraries on payment of a small subscription. Books are pro-
vided suitable for all ages of readers, and an interesting point about the move-
ment is the high standard of the books that are the most popular and eagerly
read in the cottages.
Aylesbury ducks have always been famous, and are kept by many of the
cottagers and small tradesmen. A high price can be obtained for the duck-
lings, and in this way a small addition to the regular wages can be obtained
by many of the labourers. Of late years also a determined attempt has been
*" Rtp. ofSeltct Com. an Small HoUtngi, 1889.
"* Ref. of Roy. Com. on Agri. 1897.
m From information supplied by Miss Ruth Verney.
00 Lady Verney, Pub. Lib. Acts in yillage Communitiei.
93
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
made to revive the cottage industries of the county. Under the auspices of
the North Bucks Lace Association, formed in 1897, lace-making has been
revived, and as far as possible a market has been found for the hand-made lace.
Old patterns have been brought to light, and the quality of the work, which
had greatly decreased during the decay of the industry, has also been
improved.
TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801 TO 1901
Introductory Notes
AREA
The county taken in this table is that existing subsequently to 7 & 8 Viet., chap. 61 (1844).
By this Act detached parts of counties, which had already for parliamentary purposes been amalga-
mated with the county by which they were surrounded or with which the detached part had the
longest common boundary (2 & 3 Will. IV, chap. 64 — 1832), were annexed to the same county for
all purposes ; some exceptions were, however, permitted.
By the same Act (7 & 8 Viet., chap. 61) the detached parts of counties, transferred to other
counties, were also annexed to the hundred, ward, wapentake, &c. by which they were wholly or
mostly surrounded, or to which they next adjoined, in the counties to which they were transferred.
The hundreds, &c. in this table also are given as existing subsequently to this Act.
As is well known, the famous statute of Queen Elizabeth for the relief of the poor took the then-
existing ecclesiastical parish as the unit for Poor Law relief. This continued for some centuries
with but few modifications ; notably by an Act passed in the thirteenth year of the reign of
Charles II which permitted townships and villages to maintain their own poor. This permission
was necessary owing to the large size of some of the parishes, especially in the north of England.
In 1 80 1 the parish for rating purposes (now known as the civil parish, i.e. 'an area for which
a separate poor rate is or can be made, or for which a separate overseer is or can be appointed ')
was in most cases co-extensive with the ecclesiastical parish of the same name ; but already there
were numerous townships and villages rated separately for the relief of the poor, and also there were
many places scattered up and down the country, known as extra-parochial places, which paid no rates
at all. Further, many parishes had detached parts entirely surrounded by another parish or parishes.
Parliament first turned its attention to extra-parochial places, and by an Act (20 Viet., chap. 19 —
1857) it was laid down (a) that all extra-parochial places entered separately in the 1851 census returns
are to be deemed civil parishes, (£) that in any other place being, or being reputed to be, extra-parochial,
overseers of the poor may be appointed, and (<:) that where, however, owners and occupiers of two-
thirds in value of the land of any such place desire its annexation to an adjoining civil parish, it may
be so added with the consent of the said parish. This Act was not found entirely to fulfil its object, so
by a further Act (31 & 32 Viet., chap. 122 — 1868) it was enacted that every such place remaining on
25 December, 1868, should be added to the parish with which it had the longest common boundary.
The next thing to be dealt with was the question of detached parts of civil parishes, which was
done by the Divided Parishes Acts of 1876, 1879, and 1882. The last, which amended the one of
1876, provides that every detached part of an entirely extra-metropolitan parish which is entirely
surrounded by another parish becomes transferred to this latter for civil purposes, or if the population
exceeds 300 persons it may be made a separate parish. These Acts also gave power to add detached
parts surrounded by more than one parish to one or more of the surrounding parishes, and also to
amalgamate entire parishes with one or more parishes. Under the 1879 Act it was not necessary
for the area dealt with to be entirely detached. These Acts also declared that every part added to
a parish in another county becomes part of that county.
Then came the Local Government Act, 1888, which permits the alteration of civil parish boun-
daries and the amalgamation of civil parishes by Local Government Board orders. It also created the
administrative counties. The Local Government Act of 1 894 enacts that where a civil parish is partly
in a rural district and partly in an urban district each part shall become a separate civil parish ; and
also that where a civil parish is situated in more than one urban district each part shall become a
separate civil parish, unless the county council otherwise direct. Meanwhile, the ecclesiastical parishes
had been altered and new ones created under entirely different Acts, which cannot be entered into
here, as the table treats of the ancient parishes in their civil aspect.
94
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
POPULATION
The first census of England was taken in 1801, and was very little more than a counting of the
population in each parish (or place), excluding all persons, such as soldiers, sailors, &c., who formed
no part of its ordinary population. It was the de facto population (i.e. the population actually
resident at a particular time) and not the de jure (i.e. the population really belonging to any par-
ticular place at a particular time). This principle has been sustained throughout the censuses.
The Army at home (including militia), the men of the Royal Navy ashore, and the registered
seamen ashore were not included in the population of the places where they happened to be, at the
time of the census, until 1841. The men of the Royal Navy and other persons on board vessels (naval
or mercantile) in home ports were first included in the population of those places in 1851. Others
temporarily present, such as gipsies, persons in barges, &c. were included in 1841 and perhaps earlier.
GENERAL
Up to and including 1831 the returns were mainly made by the overseers of the poor, and
more than one day was allowed for the enumeration, but the 1841-1901 returns were made under
the superintendence of the registration officers and the enumeration was to be completed in one day.
The Householder's Schedule was first used in 1841. The exact dates of the censuses are as follows : —
IO March, 1801 30 May, 1831 8 April, 1861 6 April, 1891
27 May, 1811 7 June, 1841 3 April, 1871 I April, 1901
28 May, 1821 31 March, 1851 4 April, 1881
NOTES EXPLANATORY OF THE TABLE
This table gives the population of the ancient county and arranges the parishes, &c. under the
hundred or other subdivision to which they belong, but there is no doubt that the constitution of
hundreds, &c. was in some cases doubtful.
In the main the table follows the arrangement in the 1 84 1 census volume.
The table gives the population and area of each parish, &c. as it existed in 1801, as far as possible.
The areas are those supplied by the Ordnance Survey Department, except in the case of those
marked ' e,' which were calculated by other authorities. The area includes inland water (if any),
but not tidal water or foreshore.
t after the name of a civil parish indicates that the parish was affected by the operation of the
Divided Parishes Acts, but the Registrar-General failed to obtain particulars of every such change.
The changes which escaped notification were, however, probably small in area and with little, if any,
population. Considerable difficulty was experienced both in 1891 and 1901 in tracing the results
of changes effected in civil parishes under the provisions of these Acts ; by the Registrar-General's
courtesy, however, reference has been permitted to certain records of formerly detached parts of parishes,
which has made it possible approximately to ascertain the population in 1901 of parishes as constituted
prior to such alterations, though the figures in many instances must be regarded as partly estimates.
* after the name of a parish (or place) indicates that such parish (or place) contains a union
workhouse which was in use in (or before) 1851 and was still in use in 1901.
t after the name of a parish (or place) indicates that the ecclesiastical parish of the same name
at the 1901 census was co-extensive with such parish (or place).
O in the table indicates that there is no population on the area in question.
— in the table indicates that no population can be ascertained.
The word 'chapelry' seems often to have been used as an equivalent for 'township* in 1841,
which census volume has been adopted as the standard for names and descriptions of areas.
The figures in italics in the table relate to the area and population of such subdivisions of
ancient parishes as chapelries, townships, and hamlets.
95
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
TABLE OF POPULATION
1801 — 1901
—
Acre-
age
1801
1811
1821
1831
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Ancient or Geographi-
cal County*
477.151
107,900
117,864
134.522
146,977
156,439
163,723
167,993
175.926
176,323
185,458
195.905
PARISH
Acre-
age
1801
1811
1821
1831
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Ashendon
Hundred
Ashendon . . .
2,128
248
319
339
368
312
290
325
274
237
199
212
Aston Sandford % .
679
71
76
84
82
86
88
59
58
59
48
46
Boarstall ....
3,078
179
1 88
231
268
252
243
255
244
209
188
IS'
Brill f
^,IOQ
8?9
864
i, 060
1,281
1. 440
I. in
1.4^2
T.-2C-3
i 280
1. 251
1, 2o6
ChearsleyJ . . .
j) i vy
943
j y
214
217
263
1 J
337
,^^7
308
* J 3
292
• ,T 3
287
*,J J J
3"
* t~,P
235
* ,*O
242
212
ChiltonJ. . . .
2,069
316
338
379
3M
364
398
364
336
301
287
285
Claydon, East . .
2,396
299
3°9
339
336
378
36l
385
376
341
343
336
Claydon, Middle .
2,640
103
129
1 60
136
127
I6S
146
'39
225
227
231
Crendon, Long" f I
3,46i
991
989
1,212
1,382
1,656
1,700
1,570
1,365
1,179
1,187
1,075
Dorton ....
1,477
105
124
133
158
IS'
'39
137
125
in
137
140
Fleet Marston 8 J .
934
46
43
41
38
3°
23
37
27
51
53
Grandborough J .
1,580
230
251
286
341
345
359
374
367
300
301
297
Grendon
2,536
285
271
312
379
384
427
45 i
448
365
373
323
Underwood f t
Hogshaw with
1,322
55
55
68
48
So
5°
5°
61
62
78
56
Fulbrook
Ickford (part of) 4 .
1,025
271
308
324
382
374
398
416
398
354
345
3'9
llmerf . . . .
684
74
69
68
78
79
82
79
70
63
48
5'
Kingsey (part
915
165
169
204
222
178
202
171
'45
'Si
124
85
of)6t
Ludgershall J : —
2,823
396
412
576
585
566
514
536
500
422
422
354
Ludgershall f
2,562
359
—
520
500
461
482
461
395
382
325
Kingswood
261
37
—
56
66
53
54
39
27
40
29
Hamlet
Marston, North
1,983
478
5i3
558
606
619
692
644
643
649
580
524
Oakley \\ . . .
2,283
305
329
382
4'3
391
425
420
442
421
445
398
OvingJ . . . .
990
257
306
372
384
391
442
436
440
385
364
3l8
PitchcottJ . . .
925
51
56
44
28
68
59
36
51
35
4i
40
Quainton J : —
5,346
870
942
1,017
1,056
i, 08 1
945
929
921
865
885
838
Quainton
3,805
750
848
911
952
966
854
864
858
804
807
787
Township f
Shipton Lee
1,541
120
94
106
104
115
91
65
63
61
78
51
Hamlet f
Quarrendon . .
1,948
55
54
68
60
64
64
58
56
37
52
65
Shabbington f J .
2,152
184
242
241
298
366
397
371
395
351
302
262
Towersey J . . .
1,380
294
325
367
403
413
448
449
434
342
349
305
i Ancient County.— The County as defined by the Act 7*8 Viet. cap. 61. This Act affected Buckinghamshire to the
following extent: — (A) Annexed to it (i) Lillingstowe Lovell Ancient Parish, (2) Boycott Hamlet in Stowe Ancient
Parish, (3) Coleshill Hamlet in Amersham Ancient Parish, and (4) the part of Lewknor Ancient Parish shown in this
Table; (B) severed from it (i) Studley Hamlet in Beckley Ancient Parish (to Oxfordshire), and Caversfield Ancient
Parish (to Oxfordshire).
The population given in this Table for 1811 is exclusive of 201, and for 1821 of 611, militiamen who could not be
assigned to the places to which they belonged (see also notes to Ickford, Kingsey, Luffield Abbey, Ibstone, Lewknor,
Stony Stratford West Side, and Stoke Poges).
' Long Crendon. — Migration to Redditch to seek work in the manufacture of needles was said, in 1861, to be partly
the cause of the decline in population.
3 Fleet Marston. — The population may have been included in that given for Waddesdon Ancient Parish in 1801.
* Ickford. — The remainder is in Oxfordshire (Ewelme Hundred). The entire population is shown in Buckingham-
shire, 1801-31.
5 Kingsey. — The remainder is in Oxfordshire (Lewknor Hundred). The entire population is shown in Bucking-
hamshire, 1801-31. The population given for the part in Buckinghamshire in 1841 is too small owing to an error as
to the boundary between the Buckinghamshire part and the Oxfordshire part.
96
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continue*)
PARISH
Acre-
age
1801
1811
1821
i8jl
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Aihendon
Hundred (cont)
Waddesdon »• J : —
7,282
1,292
1,283
1,616
',734
1,75°
',743
1,786
1,838
1,651
',959
1,837
VVaddesdon
5,546
1fi40
7,0 20
1J27
1,454
1,408
1,439
1,470
If OS
M75
1f37
7,547
Township t
Westcott Hamlet
1,411
231
228
261
242
303
273
278
296
245
282
255
Woodham
325
21
35
28
38
39
31
38
37
31
40
35
Hamlet t
Winchendon,
'iS54
244
266
284
294
291
284
3'6
283
257
272
222
Nether \
Winchendon,
1,202
206
204
216
223
218
1 86
220
209
1 88
'So
142
Upper t
Wotton Under-
2,487
213
254
344
3'2
26S
253
266
235
221
247
235
woodf J
Worminghall J
1,510
266
*54
3'4
297
3'4
360
354
34'
303
269
247
Aylesbury
Hundred
Aston Clinton : —
3,809
721
823
908
1,001
1,025
1,096
',297
',435
',495
',393
',279
Aston Clinton
—
584
652
723
854
847
928
1,108
1,235
1J17
1J46
1,131
Township J
St Leonard
—
137
171
185
147
178
168
189
200
178
147
148
Hamlet \
Bierton with
2,442
518
5°3
620
605
605
688
691
746
812
982
827
Broughton t
Bledlow with
4,169
917
93'
1,050
','35
1,205
1,202
1,189
1,170
1,070
978
854
Bledlow Ridge •
Bucklandtt .
',555
288
33'
496
510
537
662
732
820
863
847
730
CuddingtonJ .
', 3°»
435
462
547
620
626
623
590
532
4/6
443
455
Uinton'J . .
3.897
668
713
817
893
818
859
814
790
718
747
663
Ellesborough \ .
3,595
480
469
581
665
708
782
724
703
608
641
577
Haddenham \ .
3,274
964
1,038
1,294
1484
1,545
',703
',623
i,5'4
',443
1,282
1,223
Halton t . . •
J,456
'59
171
'95
209
198
'57
'47
'55
'95
226
1 88
Hampden, Great t
1,763
228
235
281
286
290
308
266
262
255
246
207
Harupden, Little t
5'S
79
69
88
105
83
73
68
6l
46
76
48
Hartwellt . .
911
"5
221
>33
'37
138
'5'
'37
'43
146
ii.s
118
Horsenden . .
535
52
34
5°
37
27
5'
45
46
46
39
35
Hulcottft . .
717
117
125
'39
'45
'33
150
'43
125
"9
1 08
88
Kimble, Greatf
2,507
3>6
3>9
360
436
489
501
408
459
422
395
345
Kimble, Little f
850
142
'43
165
176
'77
184
182
203
161
'7o
158
Lee ....
502
150
172
198
186
142
126
116
104
122
"9
125
Missenden, Great
5,820
1,411
',576
',735
1,827
2,225
2,097
2,250
2,278
2,170
2,385
2,166
Missenden, Little
3,214
625
678
814
937
1,011
1,142
1,089
1,148
1,113
1,136
1,112
Risborough,
2,873
768
899
934
i, 01 8
',083
1,064
985
938
847
810
7'4
Monks t
Risborough.Princes
4,697
',554
1,644
1,958
2,122
2,206
2,3 '7
2,392
2,549
2,418
2,318
2,189
Stoke Mandeville f
',773
248
34'
402
461
493
538
477
528
497
480
4"
Stone7 1 . . . .
2,568
5'5
592
716
773
809
785
1,094
1,292
1,368
',433
',393
Wendover t . . .
5,832
1,397
1,481
1,602
2,008
',877
',937
1,932
2,033
1,902
2,036
2,009
Weston Turville J
2,323
497
524
611
637
718
748
724
812
824
79'
720
Buckingham
Hundred
Addington J . .
1,303
93
99
89
72
84
7«
III
141
'34
100
1 02
AdstockJ . . .
i, 166
289
3'4
393
445
419
393
385
383
352
330
329
Akeley t . . . .
1,325
245
257
295
291
362
373
366
378
387
380
34i
Barton HartshornJ
892
100
92
"3
'45
165
'37
126
127
in
102
78
Beachampton J
1,528
187
217
251
254
248
248
272
283
217
181
1 80
Biddlesden ft • •
2,052
147
160
'75
184
169
144
169
150
125
124
84
ChetwodeJ . . .
1,171
123
98
'3'
'49
197
217
'77
'73
'55
170
'57
Edgcottf . . .
1,140
122
121
1 60
i So
'95
193
182
224
'87
150
136
FoscottJ . . .
719
85
9'
"9
107
"9
99
96
79
72
58
46
HillesdenJ . . .
2,606
183
216
247
251
262
244
251
274
221
'97
181
LeckhampsteadJ .
2,57"
346
397
S'9
499
505
518
482
447
340
302
241
*• See note 3, unit.
• Dinlim also extends Into Ashendon and Desborough Hundreds. It is entirely shown In Aylesbury Hundred.
' Slant. — The increase in population in 1861 is attributed to the erection of the County Lunatic Asylum between
1851 and 1861 ; the Asylum was enlarged between 1861 and 1871.
2 97 '3
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continued)
PARISH
Acre-
age
1801
iSn
1821
1831
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Buckingham
Hundred — cont.)
Lillingstone
2,223'
III
132
127
150
187
207
198
250
275
273
259
Dayrell ft
Lillingstone
1,269'
135
144
1 60
159
140
171
185
152
161
156
'37
LovellfJ
Luffield Abbey
216
16
—
—
10
5
17
18
5
8
7
6
Extra Par. 8
Maids' Moreton J .
1,366
239
3'S
407
474
570
573
543
5"
448
444
425
Marsh Gibbon J .
2,818
534
6?6
738
812
863
944
858
876
743
696
598
Padbury J . . .
2,029
459
510
618
708
696
660
550
60 1
530
490
439
Preston Bissett J .
l.523
322
337
396
502
5i7
554
469
485
344
31'
290
Radclive J . . .
1,186
252
227
296
334
364
387
356
339
367
321
295
Shalstone with]
The Den, or h
1,383
158
183
201
198
20 1
247
246
232
1 86
172
205
Old Wick |
Steeple Claydon J
3,329
646
704
804
881
849
869
946
906
852
780
721
Stowe't. . . .
3,088
3"
395
478
490
410
342
352
370
338
3"
246
Thornborough J
2,392
458
539
572
673
762
754
694
687
577
564
481
Thornton . . .
1,347
85
70
78
94
101
103
in
103
67
80
78
Tingewick J
2,178
642
711
832
866
911
877
914
945
787
7'4
635
Turweston \ . .
1,295
211
252
3M
371
361
322
335
362
305
269
257
Twyford J : —
4,458
517
547
623
660
754
848
694
596
56i
554
534
Twyford . . .
1,567
296
317
367
416
452
577
429
346
339
349
340
Charndon
7,9/7
146
153
165
160
190
204
170
165
150
131
148
Hamlet
Poundon Hamlet
980
75
77
91
84
112
133
95
85
72
74
46
Water Stratford J .
I,IO2
143
160
167
1 86
172
179
179
227
1 88
'37
"3
Westbury ft . .
2,530
308
320
345
391
471
458
379
419
417
357
302
Burnham
Hundred
Amersham \ : —
7,969
2,3M
2,688
3,104
3,313
3,645
3,662
3,550
3,259
3,001
3,129
3,209
Amersham *
6,119
2,130
2,259
2,612
2,816
3,098
3,104
3,0 J 9
2,726
2,500
2,613
2,674
Coleshill Hamlet
1,850
184
429
492
497
547
558
531
533
501
516
535
Beaconsfield J . .
4,5°4
1,149
1,461
1,736
1,763
1,732
1,684
1,662
I,524
1,635
',773
1,570
Burnham : —
6,866
1,519
1,640
I,9l8
2,137
2,284
2,301
2,233
2,281
2,356
2,9'5
3,689
Burnham f . .
6,383
1,354
1,490
1,716
1,930
2,095
2,142
2,081
2,179
2,241
2,513
3,144
Boveney,
483
165
150
202
207
189
159
152
102
115
402
545
Lower Chap.
Chalfont St. Giles J
3,726
762
924
1,104
1,297
1,228
1,169
1,217
1,243
1,264
1,286
1,362
Chalfont St. Peter
4,758
', '74
1,153
1,351
1,416
1,483
1,482
1,344
1,459
1,456
1,509
1,753
Chenies, or Isle-
i,759
423
510
595
649
625
565
468
495
388
378
324
hampstead
Cheyneys J
Chesham . . .
12,746
3,969
4,441
5,032
5,388
5,593
6,098
5,985
6,488
6,502
8,0 1 8
9,005
Chesham Bois J .
910
135
130
100
157
218
185
218
258
35'
552
767
Dorney t ...
1,560
190
247
279
268
324
355
367
374
3'9
401
358
Farnham Royal : —
3, '04
851
1,053
1,149
1,193
1,258
1,298
1,378
1,443
1,5/6
1,586
1,647
Farnham Royal
1,664
550
624
686
777
792
787
817
884
1,042
1,053
1,162
Hedgerley Dean
551
77
180
199
777
185
196
227
242
204
249
200
Hamlet
Seer Green
889
224
249
264
245
281
315
334
317
330
284
285
Hamlet J
Hitcham ....
1,484
200
161
172
232
267
236
205
270
395
5'2
553
Penn9 . . . .
3,992
927
950
1,054
'.'°3
1,040
1,254
1,096
1, 086
I,IOO
1, 02 1
1,030
Taplow ....
1,762
422
592
586
647
744
704
8n
1,028
1,063
1,029
1,056
Cotttsloc Hundred
Aston Abbots J
2,198
276
267
321
303
356
343
3"
327
290
281
200
Cheddington f J •
1,429
273
301
341
375
439
508
628
745
744
654
580
Cholesbury J . .
178
122
114
132
127
124
i'3
105
109
99
95
107
Creslow . .
887
6
5
5
5
7
10
9
6
10
12
5
8 Luffitld Abbey. — The population was included in that given for Stowe Ancient Parish in 1811 and 1821. A small
part appears to be in Northamptonshire ; the entire area and population is included in Buckinghamshire.
9 Penn.— The decline in population in 1861 is attributed to the absence of woodmen temporarily present in
1851.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continued)
PARISH
Acre-
age
1801
1811
I82I
1831
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Cottesloe
Hundred (cont.)
Cublington J . .
1,223
271
233
259
284
290
287
288
283
259
223
215
Drayton
1,888
191
224
272
27S
23'
261
268
227
'94
177
'49
Beaucbamp f
Drayton
1,75°
307
287
372
416
526
490
468
479
473
425
369
Parslow 10 J
Dunton J . . .
'•'97
85
89
98
116
107
98
1 06
96
So
7'
82
Edlesboroush f t •
4,647
997
1,146
1,378
M90
1,722
1,838
1,671
1,814 i,598
' ,448
1,099
Grove J . . . .
437
25
33
18
21
25
38
'9
23 17
'9
'9
Hardwick t :—
3,001
563
554
627
640
747
739
708
7'7 647
596
488
Hardwick . .
1,213
178
196
207
235
319
292
283
254
214
183
767
Weedon
1,788
385
358
420
405
428
447
425
463
433
413
321
Hamlet t
Hawridge J . . .
697
121
144
208
217
233
270
276
254
242
214
209
Hoggeston J . .
1,57'
197
190
1 88
'73
204
220
207
I91
'75
1 66
129
Horwood, Great J .
3-^7'
537
581
688
720
712
834
846
866
712
639
554
Horwood, Little J .
1,948
339
325
429
43'
392
427
449
411
309
304
267
Ivinghoeft • •
5,618
1,215
1,361
1,665
',648
1,843
2,024
1,849
1,722
1,380
1,270
',077
Linslade J . . .
1,693
203
281
370
407
883
1,309
1,511
',633
',724
1,982
2,'57
Marsworth f "\
f 259
264
39'
427
472
463
T
Long Mars ton
and Asthorpe j
1,266
f-
_
12
16
}-549
564
455
385
396
Extra Par. J
I
J
Mentmore J . .
'-575
279
298
302
329
348
356
309
408
3'4
307
289
Mursleyut. . .
2,975
3.8
3'0
473
495
479
553
482
488
363
369
367
Pitstone : —
2,459
360
389
461
578
522
545
581
612
544
574
484
Nettleden
804
85
101
108
142
98
107
124
133
111
115
88
Hamlet
Pitstone 1 1 • •
1,655
275
288
353
436
424
438
457
479
433
459
396
Shenley (part
of) " :—
Brook End
1,659
232
230
224
244
264
283
289
290
219
215
1 86
Township
Slapton f t . . •
1,211
228
202
3H
36o
336
298
325
325
265
2'4
161
Soulburyl . . .
Stewkleyt • • •
4,226
3,982
526
680
§02
547
933
578
',053
615
1,262
628
',432
589
'.453
55'
',43'
475
1,36'
510
',328
550
i,'59
Swanboume J . .
2,552
529
499
616
668
679
646
603
558
474
429
405
Tattenhoe, or
647
3'
24
16
'3
'5
55
64
63
'7
45
16
Tottenhoe J
Whaddon :—
3-772
810
8n
900
889
910
987
955
936
745
704
584
Nash Hamlet .
7,247
265
263
375
377
366
439
462
460
340
306
263
Whaddon
2,525
545
548
525
512
544
548
493
476
405
398
321
Township J
Whitchurch . . .
I,7»7
646
7'4
845
928
930
9'5
884
799
725
709
619
WingJ
Wingrave with
5,703
2,488
993
602
937
588
1,086
675
1,152
783
',274
814
1,376
8'3
'IS
1,520
908
1,636
903
',799
926
1,740
827
Rowsham f t
Winslow * t . . .
1,920
1,101
1,222
1,222
1,290
',434
1,889
1,890
1,826
1,663
1,704
'-70S
Dcsborough
Hundred
I'.radenham ft- •
996
170
181
220
363
226
138
185
169
183
152
'54
Fawley J . . . .
2,213
181
189
276
254
280
254
272
289
302
266
235
Fingest ....
1,285
3'6
303
295
340
379
3»7
352
337
333
364
367
Hambleden . . .
6,598
1,074
1,110
I,28l
',357
1,241
',365
1,464
M6I
1,502
',557
",5'7
Hedsor t . . . .
548
140
162
1 88
207
194
'83
'75
225
'55
191
166
Hitchenden, or
5,828
887
989
1,247
',457
1,481
',54'
',653
>,792
1,803
',765
1,728
Hughendon
Ibstone (part of; '*
848
258
247
272
3'3
177
162
'53
140
'42
'49
116
Lewknor(partof)I4t
456
7'
63
52
61
33
24
10 Drayton Parslow. — There were 52 persons temporarily present at the 1841 Census, owing to the annual village
feast.
11 Murtliy. — The decline in population in 1861 is attributed to the absence of men temporarily present in 1851 and
engaged on railway works.
" Shenlty Anoint Parish is situated partly In Cottesloe Hundred and partly in Newport Hundred.
u Ibstatu. — The remainder is in Oxfordshire (Pirton Hundred). The entire population is shown in Buckingham-
shire 1801-31.
14 Ltwknor. — The remainder is in Oxfordshire (Lewknor Hundred), where the entire population is shown
1801-41.
99
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continued)
PARISH
Acre-
age
1801
1811
1821
1831
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Dtsborough
Hundred (cent)
Marlow, Great t
6,245
3>236
3,965
3,763
4,237
4,480
4485
4,661
4,701
4,763
5,250
5,645
Marlow, Little f
3,328
728
730
775
783
927
894
790
964
9/6
922
939
Medmenham J .
2,442
284
323
369
384
385
401
380
310
336
320
387
Radnage \ . .
1,369
306
319
366
399
401
433
478
476
427
452
385
Saunderton * 1 1
1,831
'93
I92
2IO
231
232
380
428
411
424
373
370
Turville J . .
2,328
376
382
362
442
476
436
437
456
423
468
371
Wooburn f I •
3,133
1,401
1,604
1,831
1,927
1,830
2,026
2,245
2,343
2,431
2,727
3,328
Wycombe, Chep
6,395
4,248
4,756
5,599
6,299
6,480
7,179
8,373
10,492
13,154
16,409
19,282
ping
Wycombe, West. .
6,533
1,330
1,362
1,545
1,901
2,002
2,000
2,161
2,343
2,390
2,599
3,466
Newport Hundred
Astwood f t • • •
1,286
160
209
263
268
243
268
247
268
222
187
168
Bletchley :—
3,364
1,038
1,103
1,160
1,254
1,450
1,544
1,658
1,862
2,432
3,3ii
4,269
Bletchley . . .
2,348
824
916
884
1,011
1,183
1,303
1,416
1,619
2,184
3,070
4,068
Water Eaton
1,016
214
187
276
243
267
241
242
243
248
241
201
Township
Brad well-. . . .
917
255
259
271
257
381
381
1,658
2,409
2,460
2,899
3,946
Bradwell Abbey
447
12
10
2O
17
21
16
'4
10
28
16
18
Extra Par.
Brayfield, Cold . .
744
82
75
80
93
83
80
99
86
85
80
79
Brickhill, Bow J .
1,848
43'
392
438
475
566
59'
546
468
460
464
448
Brickhill, Great \ .
2,383
560
554
558
776
721
730
590
566
557
522
491
Brickhill, Little J .
1,367
385
409
485
5'4
563
483
423
291
241
3'2
278
Broughtont. . .
937
157
194
191
172
168
182
155
174
'59
122
H3
Calvertonf • • •
2,011
321
332
370
425
493
505
595
579
550
658
711
Castle Thorpe . .
1,372
260
242
348
366
365
346
338
366
329
441
539
Chicheley J . . .
2,O7O
189
179
219
218
256
271
265
250
181
1 80
208
Clifton Reynes \ .
i,454
221
238
230
246
213
217
212
216
203
170
122
Crawley, North f t
3>362
6l7
681
775
791
865
914
981
933
699
622
541
Emberton 15 f . .
2,364
549
541
549
598
658
613
632
637
653
526
5IO
Gayhurstf . . •
1,012
89
89
90
118
116
88
129
95
9'
91
IO4
Hanslope . . .
5,801
1,289
1,345
1,479
1,623
1,553
1,604
1,792
1,726
1,584
1,489
1,424
Hardmead ft- •
i,'45
45
68
75
83
83
61
9'
92
92
79
5'
Haversham J . .
1,634
223
256
289
313
283
280
288
262
237
224
200
Lathbury ft • •
1,394
189
177
164
172
127
147
147
136
121
152
1 88
Lavendon 16 1 • •
2,615
544
546
613
664
691
769
820
916
783
665
704
Linford, Great " J
1,836
313
376
408
420
474
486
557
468
437
481
478
Linford, Little J
727
44
40
73
55
64
57
58
58
69
70
70
Loughton J . . .
1,536
302
288
293
325
361
335
386
359
324
348
371
Milton Keynes J .
1,909
280
287
338
334
327
3'7
346
321
244
207
219
Moulsoe J . . .
1,654
282
229
260
303
297
239
234
241
194
214
190
Newton Blossom-
1,014
221
211
243
237
264
332
277
320
260
191
177
ville18!
Newton
1,735
459
486
486
473
565
595
547
537
471
415
424
Longville J
Newport
3,432
2,048
2,5'S
3,103
3,385
3,569
3,651
3,823
3,824
3,686
3,788
4,028
Pagnel * t
Olney :—
3,260
2,075
2,268
2,339
2,418
2,437
2,329
2,358
2,74i
2,430
2,467
2,740
Olney
2,359
2,003
—
2,344
2,362
2,265
2,284
2,672
2,362
2,409
2,705
Township " "
Warrington
901
72
—
—
74
75
64
74
69
68
58
33
Hamlet f
Ravenstone 1 1
1,920
381
370
418
430
415
446
400
431
370
300
224
Shenley (part
of)18" :—
Church End
1,662
232
211
225
240
227
210
203
209
184
1 80
1 66
Township
Sherington J . .
1,805
671
773
796
804
856
826
839
718
604
566
548
15 Embirton includes the area, and population 1841-1901, of Petsoe Manor, which became a separate Civil Parish
•under the Extra Parochial Places Acts.
16 Lavendon, Newton Blossomville, Weston Underwood, and Olney Township. —The increase in the population of these
places in 1871 is almost entirely due to the presence of men engaged in railway construction.
v Great Linford. — In the 1821 volume four families are said to live here in turf-huts and to be engaged in
.cultivating woad.
18 Olney Township includes the area, and the population 1851-1901, of Olney Park Farm, which became a separate
Civil Parish under the Act 20 Viet. c. 19, having been previously Extra Parochial.
isa See note 12, ante.
IOO
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
TABLE OF POPULATION, 1801—1901 (continued)
PARISH
Acre-
age
1801
iSn
1821
1831
1841
1831
1 86:
1871
1881
1891
1901
Newport
Hundred— (coM.)
Simpson J . . .
1,366
367
372
395
470
585
540
562
678
737
727
73'
Stantonbury . .
806
39
3*
40
5'
42
27
29
40
35
29
4'
Stoke Goldington "
2,352
636
617
818
912
855
902
963
875
808
767
629
Stoke Hammond J
1,566
268
283
320
323
407
438
401
369
365
312
288
Stony Stratford-
55
893
968
969
',053
1,227
1,256
1,356
1,186
i, 216
1,100
',395
West Side, or
St. Giles " f
Stony Stratford-
69
528
520
530
566
530
501
649
790
727
859
958
East Side, or
St. Mary
Magdalen
Tyringham with
',792
236
1 80
204
227
206
1 88
226
246
199
'55
198
Filgrave J
Walton t . . .
772
79
97
1 02
114
103
95
95
105
112
93
84
Wavendon t . •
2,791
635
685
721
802
846
935
879
953
971
',384
',659
Weston Under-
1,873
357
339
420
441
438
405
398
430
352
325
275
wood ""• {
Willen t . . . .
678
97
78
83
98
97
98
80
76
86
86
9'
Woolstone, Great .
5'4
"3
116
1 08
120
94
72
7i
84
81
80
45
Woolstone, Little .
631
103
88
114
124
"5
IO2
125
117
81
83
85
Wolverton . . .
2,325
238
258
335
4'7
1,261
2,070
2,370
2,804
3,6 1 1
4,'47
5,323
Woughton-on-the-
1,224
3"
285
299
303
354
337
3'4
273
231
208
202
GreenJ
Stoke Hundred
DatchetJ . . .
1,386
357
710
839
802
922
898
982
990
1,202
1,582
',834
Denham J . . .
3,939
796
1,000
1,189
t,i69
1,264
1,062
i. 068
',234
1,254
1,242
1,146
Eton .... I
[3,526
3,666]
Eton College }
786
2,026
2,279
2,475
3,232
83
I3o
3,«22
3,261
3,984
2,955
3,666
Extra Par. J
j
Fulmer . . .
1,895
292
262
340
391
355
328
35'
412
428
349
340
Hedgerleyt. •
1,097
'37
126
158
187
161
150
153
'75
132
118
'47
Horton . . .
1,367
647
723
796
804
873
842
810
835
86 1
824
834
Iver ....
6,467
1,377
1,635
i, 661
1,870
I QJ8
i 085
2 I 14
2 2 1O
2 ^OQ
2 4?6
" fi.i, )
Langley Marish
3,937
• I J / 1
1,215
1 J J
',57'
• I*-"-* j
1,616
i*-*/ **
1,797
» iy-f vj
1,844
,yw j
1,874
*, • • *f
1,874
*1* J7
1,964
•*»jvy:/
2,162
*t*t / v
2,474
*(V^fW
3,'67
Stoke Poges" J
3,465
741
838
1,073
1,252
1,528
1,501
1, 600
1,850
2,150
2,356
3,175
Upton-cum-
',943
1,018
1,083
1,268
1,502
2,296
3,573
4,688
5,940
7,030
7,7oo
9,406
Chalvey *
Wexham t . . .
748
172
178
'54
181
'75
20 1
196
218
172
231
239
Wyrardisbury, or
1,679
616
560
520
682
672
701
735
73'
658
660
779
Wraysbury J
Ayhsbury
Borough
Aylesbury * f . .
3,302
3,186
3,447
4,400
5,021
5,429
6,08 1
6,168
6,962
7,795
8,680
9,099
Buckingham
Borough
Buckingham * . .
5,006
2,605
2,987
3^65
3,610
4,054
4,020
3,849
3,703
3,585
3,364
3,'52
GENERAL NOTE AS TO BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
The following Municipal Boroughs and Urban Districts, were, at the Census of 1901,
co-extensive with one or more places mentioned in the Table : —
Municipal Borough, or Urban District
Beaconsfield U.D.
Buckingham M.B.
Fenny Stratford U.D. .
Linslade U.D.
Newport Pagnel U.D.
Place
Beaconsfield Parish (Burnham Hundred)
Buckingham Parish (Buckingham Borough)
Bletchley Ancient Parish (all except Water Eaton Township), and
Simpson Parish (both in Newport Hundred)
Linslade Parish (Cottesloe Hundred)
Newport Pagnel Parish (Newport Hundred)
'• Stoke Goldington includes Gorefieldj, which was formerly Extra Parochial.
* Stony Stratford Witt Sidt.—The population for 1801 is an estimate. «•« See note 16, tntt.
w Stake Pogei.—Tbo population for 1801 is an estimate.
101
INDUSTRIES
INTRODUCTION
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE has never
been a manufacturing county, and
before the i6th century there were
probably no industries but those
which supplied the actual wants of
the local agricultural population. During the
last three centuries the industries carried on in
the county, though on a small scale, have been
very various. The most interesting are those
which may be called cottage industries : lace,
straw-plaiting, and chair-seating. Of these, the
two latter owe their origin to natural products
grown in the county, the wheat-straw being
suitable for plaiting, and the beech woods of the
Chiltern Hills being famous throughout the his-
tory of the county. Chair-making is now per-
haps the most important manufacture, and is still
peculiarly local in its character, although much
of the wood used is not grown in the district.
Other trades owe their prosperity to the water-
power, arising from the Thames and its tribu-
taries in the south and the Ouse in the north.
The chief of these is the manufacture of paper,
the mills being grouped for the most part on the
streams running into the Thames. In the
northern part of the county much of this water-
power was lost, owing to the construction of the
Grand Junction Canal. Other industries have
existed in the county without apparently any
dependence on natural commodities or situation.
Needle-making, for instance, was a trade carried
on for more than two centuries at Long
Crendon, where it was difficult to procure wire,
and the manufacturers did not attempt to utilize
the water that lay close at hand. Silk mills were
opened in the early i gth century with the defi-
nite object of providing work for the unem-
ployed, and more recently branches of London
printing works have been established in the
•county.
The growth of the town of Slough should be
noticed in connexion with the Buckinghamshire
industries. Originally quite a small village, it
seems to have mainly grown up since the build-
ing of the station on the Great Western Railway.
Its population is to a great extent industrial, em-
ployed in a great variety of undertakings, the
chief being perhaps the brick-fields. Until very
recent years the means of communication, how-
ever, in the county have offered no incentive to
the local industries. The roads as a whole seem
to have been uniformly bad for many centuries.
Each township or parish was responsible for the
roads which ran through it, the different land-
owners being bound to repair particular pieces.
At the close of the I3th century indulgences
were granted to encourage the repair of the roads
in the county. In 1 292, during the episcopate
of Bishop Sutton l of Lincoln, such an indulgence
was granted to those who were bound to contri-
bute to the repair of Walton Street, in Aylesbury
parish, and in the succeeding years similar indul-
gences* were granted for the repair of the bridges
at Newport Pagnell and Great Marlow. Pre-
sentments in the manorial courts of different
obstructions left on the roads were very frequent,
and it seems doubtful if the courts were of suffi-
cient authority to have much effect, the same
offence coming up in court after court.1 In the
1 6th and I7th centuries the justices of the peace
superseded the lord of the manor in this duty,
but the change seems to have had no effect. In
1634-5 the county was charged with a share of
carrying certain timber from Oxfordshire to
London. In April the justices wrote that the
roads were ' impassable, or at least so foul and
unfit for carriages of weight ' that the loads must
be very small, and therefore they begged that the
work might be done later in the summer.4 In
the 1 8th century a highway rate could be levied
on different parishes by order of the justices
under an Act of William and Mary instead of the
different inhabitants providing labourers for so
many days.*
The repairs, however, at the close of the cen-
tury were carried out mainly by gangs of parish
labourers, who were underpaid and without
supervision. The establishment of turnpike
trusts for the repair of the main roads produced
some improvement, but of course the by-roads
1 Line. Epii. Reg. Sutton Mem. ' Ibid.
' Add. MS. 27039, 27148, 27152. Instances are
frequent throughout the series of Fawley Court Rolls.
4 S.P. Dom. Cha». I, ccxv, 38.
* Quarter Sessions Rec. East. 1718.
103
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
were not affected, and the frequent collection of
tolls was often a heavy tax on the farmers of a
district. Thus at Aylesbury there was no road
out of the town free from toll, and there were
no less than seven turnpike trusts, each managing
a different road, with a different set of lawyers,
officials, and toll-collectors to be paid.6 The
tolls varied slightly under different trusts, but in
Buckinghamshire and the neighbouring counties
the usual rates were as follows : — 7
For a horse ridden or led, I \d.
For a horse drawing any vehicle, \\d.
A carriage and pair gJ. and so on.
Cattle lod. a score, and sheep and pigs rather less.
In 1813, in a survey of the county made for the
Board of Agriculture, the state of the roads is
heavily condemned. The by-roads naturally were
the worst ; some were even dangerous, the ruts
being so deep that the surveyor reports ' that when
the wheels of a chaise fall into them, it is with
the greatest danger an attempt may be made to
draw them out ; nay, instances may be produced
where, if such an attempt is made, the horse and
chaise must inevitably fall into bogs.' This
actually happened on the road from Risborough
to Bledlow, the horse of the surveyor falling
into a bog up to his chest.8 The main roads
at the present time are under the control of
the County Council. Their course has been
dictated from the earliest times by the posi-
tion of the Chiltern Hills, the roads from
London passing in the most cases through the
different gaps in the hills. The road from
London to Chester passes through before it
reaches Buckinghamshire, which it enters at
Little Brickhill, and runs north-west, covering
the course of Watling Street. The Liverpool
road enters the county near Woburn and passes
through the town of Newport Pagnell, which
owed its prosperity to its being a posting stage
on this road. In the south of the county there
are two roads to Oxford from London. The one
follows the valley of the Thames, the other
enters the county near Uxbridge and passes
through High Wycombe, going over the Chiltern
Hills. From this road a branch road runs up the
Missenden valley to Aylesbury and Buckingham,
while there is a more direct road to the former
town by Tring and Aston Clinton. Other
roads of course connect the different towns and
villages with one another. The county was
better served by water communication than by
road. The Thames was used by the manufac-
turers established near its banks, and the Ouse
is navigable throughout its course in Bucking-
hamshire. The Grand Junction Canal has also
supplied a much-needed means of communication
6 J. K. Fowler, Rec. of Old Times, 14.
7 Ibid.
for the towns in the centre of the county, which
were long without adequate railway service.
The main canal passes through Ivinghoe, Fenny
Stratford, and Stony Stratford, but is also con-
nected with the three towns of Buckingham,
Aylesbury, and Wendover. The Act of Parlia-
ment for making the cuts was obtained in 1794.
This canal was so much used in the early part of
the i gth century that the road from Stony Strat-
ford to Newport Pagnell, along which the com-
modities sent by canal were distributed in the
county, was at many seasons of the year abso-
lutely impassable, being cut up by the heavy
wagons.9 In the early days of railways the
Buckinghamshire landowners offered so much
opposition to any scheme that the county was.
badly serve^ b) railways for many years. When
the Londu.. and Birmingham Railway, now the
London and North - Western, was surveyed
George Stephenson's original plan was to bring
the main line down via Aylesbury and Amer-
sham to London, but so much opposition was
raised that the line was diverted through the
Countess of Bridgewater's land by Berkhamp-
stead and Tring. ' The land,' she is reported
to have said to him, ' is already gashed by the
Canal, and if you take that course you will have
no severance to pay, it will disarm opposition,
and the position of the locks will be some guide
to you in your levels.' lu Thus the line, when it
was opened in 1 838, only passed through a small
portion of the county by Bletchley and Wolver-
ton. Subsequently several branch lines have been
built, opening up the northern part of the county.
From Cheddington Junction there is a line to
Aylesbury ; from Bletchley there are two lines,
one by Fenny Stratford to Bedford and Cam-
bridge, and the other to Oxford. The Banbury
line passes through Buckingham, leaving the
main line at Winslow, and another branch con-
nects Wolverton and Newport Pagnell. In the
south the chief railway is the Great Western ;.
the main line, entering the county near Coin-
brook and passing through Slough, leaves the
county at Maidenhead. It has branches to-
Eton and Windsor, and to Oxford, via High
Wycombe, Princes Risborough, and Thame.
A small line was projected in 1 846 by Robert
Stephenson, its object being to connect the two
great lines, the centre of the county being then
practically without railway communications. Part
of the scheme was abandoned, and not till 1861
was the Act obtained for the Aylesbury and
Buckingham Railway. The project met with
opposition of every kind, but finally an arrange-
ment was made for the new line being worked
by the Great Western.11 Afterwards, however,
an extension was made bringing the line from.
St. John Priest, Gen. View of dgric. of Bucks. 125.
9 Ibid. 342.
10 J. K. Fowler, Recollections of Old Country Lifer
339-42-
11 J. K. Fowler, Rec. of Old Times, 186.
104
INDUSTRIES
Aylesbury to London, the terminus being at
Baker Street, and the Aylesbury and Bucking-
ham Railway was bought by the Metropolitan
Railway Company. The line is known as the
Metropolitan Extension Railway, and a steam
tramway is run in connexion with it from Quain-
ton Road to Brill. The Great Central Railway,
since its extension to London, also passes
through the centre of the county, entering it
near Buckingham. It then passes through
Quainton Road Junction, Aylesbury, and on to
the Marylebone terminus. The Great Western
and Great Central Joint Committee have built
a new line from Quainton Road, through Princes
Risborough and Wycombc, joining the main
line near Kingsbury-Neasden and so on to
London.
Several industries have sprung up in the
county for different reasons during the latter
part of the last century. Amongst these may be
classed boat-building, on the banks of the Thames.
This trade has probably occupied a large number
of the riverside population throughout the history
of the county. In 1831 there were said to be
ten boat - builders and 998 boat - makers or
menders," but the trade in its present form has
only developed recently. At Eton it dated from
the time when the boys at the college began
to row — about forty-five years ago." It is now
one of the four centres in the country for the
building of racing-boats. The industry received
a further stimulus about twenty years after
the introduction of racing by the popularity of
pleasure-boating on the river. A large number
of the boats built for this purpose are kept on
the Thames for letting on hire, the rest are sold
to purchasers in all parts of the country. Re-
cently the demand for punts has brought an
increase of trade, which had been decreasing
owing to the popularity of motoring and other
amusements.14 A large export trade was at one
time carried on by the boat-builders at Eton to
most continental countries, but this has been
stopped by the establishment of boat-building
firms in these countries ; boats are still sent to
Africa, India, Italy, Portugal, amongst other
places. One firm has also extended its business
by manufacturing oars and sculls, besides supply-
ing the London County Council with a large
number of mahogany boats for use in the Lon-
don parks. The industry now gives employ-
ment to a considerable number of men, whose
work is very various, the chief classes being
builders, varnishcrs, decorators, upholsterers and
watermen. The wages paid to first-class hands
are good, the rate of wages amongst the builders
reaching between £3 and £4 a week,
» Pof.Rft. 1 83 1, i, 34.
u From information kindly given by Mr. G. F.
Winter, Kton.
" From information kindly given by Mr. G. Raines,
Old Windsor and Wraysbury.
Although the manufacture of paper has been
one of the chief industries of Buckinghamshire
for so many years, there do not seem to have
been any large printing works established until
recently. In the second half of the 1 8th cen-
tury there was a printer at Aylesbury,1* and for
a short time, in the year 1792, the Buckingham-
ihire Herald was printed there by a man named
Norman, and at the present time there are
printers in most of the towns of the county.
The Buckinghamshire Standard \& printed at New-
port Pagnell, as well as the Newport Pagnell
Gazette. The South Bucks Standard at Wycombe,
the Buckingham Standard at Buckingham, and the
Bucks Herald at Aylesbury, are all printed in the
towns where they are published. In the last-
named town are large printing works owned by
Messrs. Hazell, Watson & Vincy, Ltd."
The firm was founded in London in 1845, but
the Aylesbury works were not opened till 1867,
when they were started as an experiment in an
old silk-mill, with the object of establishing works
in the country rather than in London. All kinds
of printing are done by the firm, who also are
book-binders, printing-ink makers, printers' roller
makers, &c. A great many institutions and clubs
have been established at Aylesbury for the em-
ployees of the firm, who are also shareholders under
different schemes, the total value of the shares
so held being between £16,000 and £17,000.
There are numerous coach and carriage builders
in all parts of the county. Their trade appears
to be of recent development, since in 1831 only
twenty-three men were so employed. The
chief centres are at Newport Pagnell, Great
Marlow, and Slough. At Slough a large export
trade is carried on and this has prevented one
firm at least from suffering from the increasing
demand for motor cars.17
Embrocation is made by two firms in the
county, the Line Romanelicum Company at
Newport Pagnell and the well-known Messrs.
Elliman & Sons, Ltd., at Slough.
Brewing was carried on in Buckinghamshire,
as in the rest of England, in nearly every village
in mediaeval times, and the industry was super-
vised as a rule by the lords of the manors or
their officials, claiming the right to hold the
assize of ale. Owing to the process then ob-
taining, no large quantities of beer or ale were
made, so that the business was carried on on a
very small scale. At High Wycombe, in the
1 6th century, there were severe orders against
those who brewed selling, or as it was then
called ' tippling,' their beer at their own houses.18
Instead it was to be sent into the town to be
'• Gibb, Hut. ef Aylesbury, 628-9.
" After Hours, published by Messrs. Hazell, Watson
& Viney, Ltd.
17 Information kindly given by Messrs. Brown &
Sons, Slough.
" Wycombe Borough Records.
105
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
sold by the ' tipplers ' at the price fixed by the
mayor of the borough. The more important
breweries, in the modern sense, seem to have
been established during the i8th century. At
Great Marlow brewing is the most important
industry in the town, the chief brewery having
been established by the Wethereds in 1758.
The same family still carries on the business,
which, however, was formed into a company in
1899. The brewery now carried on by the
Newport Pagnell Brewery Co., Ltd., has also
been established for at least a hundred years.
There were also breweries at Buckingham,
Bletchley, and Aylesbury, but these are now all
in the hands of the Aylesbury Brewery Co.,
Ltd.
The oldest nursery gardens in Buckinghamshire
are the Royal nurseries at Slough, which were
founded by Mr. Thomas Brown in 1774..™ In
1848 they passed into the hands of the late
Mr. Charles Turner, and they have remained in
his family to the present day. The nurseries
have always been noted for ' Florists' Flowers/
the chief kinds grown being carnations, picotees,
pinks, roses, auriculas, pelargoniums, dahlias, etc.
Roses grown at Slough were specially famous,
and Dean Hole described Mr. Charles Turner
as ' the king of florists.' " At the present day
the gardens cover about 150 acres of ground.
In the same neighbourhood Messrs. Veitch &
Sons, of Chelsea, have opened nurseries at
Langley Marish. In 1880, 20 acres of land were
purchased, and more has been added till the
nursery includes about sixty acres in all. The
principal culture is that of fruit trees, roses, and
herbaceous plants, but flower and vegetable seeds
are also grown there. The nursery is particu-
larly noted for its pears and apples. There are
various nurseries in different parts of the county,
which have been developed of late years and have
profited by the new lines of railway. Of these,
the nursery near Claydon was started about four-
teen years ago ' to develop a local trade for small
orders for ready money.'21 Tomatoes, bedding
plants, and chrysanthemums are grown in large
quantities, and cut flowers are also supplied.
Fruit of all kinds is grown, and some twelve
years ago a Fruit Growers' Association was
formed, so that customers living near could
obtain the best variety of fruit trees at wholesale
prices. To encourage fruit-growing amongst
the tenants of Sir Edmund Verney, bart., on
whose estate the Claydon Nurseries are situ-
ated, compensation for disturbance is given to
the cottagers and others who have purchased
fruit trees through the Association and have left
their cottages within six years after planting.
Various other branches of work have also been
undertaken, such as fruit-preserving, bee-keeping,
and wood-growing. The Claydon Nurseries
Company is co-operative so far as the horticul-
tural department is concerned, the profits being
annually divided amongst the permanent em-
ployees of that branch of the work.
LACE-MAKING
Lace-making for a very long period formed
the most important industry of Buckinghamshire.
There seems some doubt as to its origin in the
county, but tradition attributes it to Queen Ka-
therine of Aragon, who besides holding several
manors in Buckinghamshire as part of her dower,
also lived for two years at Ampthill in the neigh-
bouring county of Bedford.1 Thread-lace was
made in England as early as 1463^ and bone-lace,
the original name for pillow-lace, is mentioned
in 1577.* The type of lace made in England at
this time was Flemish, and may have been first
brought to England by refugees from Flanders.
Pennant * speaks ' of the lace-manufacture which
we stole from the Flemings,' but Queen Kather-
ine may still, in the first instance, have brought
19 From information kindly given by Mr. Charles
Turner, The Royal Nurseries, Slough.
" Memoirs of Dean Hole (1893), 207.
" From information kindly given by Mr. J. Milsom,
Claydon Nurseries.
1 L. and P. Hen. Fill, vi, 66 1.
1 Par!. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 507^.
' New Engl. Diet,
4 Journey from Chester to Land. 342.
the industry to Buckinghamshire. It seems to
have been flourishing by the beginning of the
I7th century, since in 1611 men 'who continu-
allie travelled to sell bone-lace on the Sabbath
day ' were presented at an ecclesiastical visitation.5
A time of depression, however, followed, prob-
ably owing to the monopolies granted by
James I. In High Wycombe and the neigh-
bourhood there was a great deal of distress in
1623 mainly due to lack of employment, since
both the clothing and bone-lace trades were
daily becoming more depressed.6 This depres-
sion was, however, merely temporary. Three
years later, in the neighbouring town of Great
Marlow, Sir Henry Borlase founded a school for
twenty-four boys and twenty-four girls, and
the latter were to learn to knit, spin, and make
bone-lace. The chief centres of the lace indus-
try were Newport Pagnell, or Olney, High
Wycombe, and Aylesbury. Fuller, in 1660,'
specially mentions Olney, but the industry was
already widely spread in the county. A few
6 F. W. Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 17.
6 S.P. Dom. Jns. I, cxlii, 44.
' Worthies of Engl. (NuttalFs ed.), 193.
106
INDUSTRIES
years later Sir Edmund Verncy,8 at Claydon,
writes that one of his men had given him some
very good lace made by his daughter. She re-
ceived a guinea, and the lace was made into a
cravat of the latest fashion.
The greatest time of prosperity in the indus-
try came, however, in the i8th century, when
bone-lace was in great demand. The Spectator,
when deploring the extravagance of women in
their head-dresses,' speaks of ' childish Gewgaws,
Ribbands and bone-lace.' In 1717 the lace-
makers on a large scale, living at Wycombe and
in that neighbourhood, petitioned against a de-
cision which forced them to take out licences as
petty chapmen or hawkers.10 One of the chief
of these lace-makers was Ferdinando Shrimpton
of Penn, who was eight times Mayor of Chep-
ping Wycombe.11 He and other men of his
class kept several hundred workers constantly
employed.11 They went weekly to London,
generally on a Monday, and sold their goods to
the London milliners at the lace markets held at
the George Inn, Aldersgate Street, or in the Bull
and Mouth Inn in St. Martin's by Aldersgate.
They returned with a stock of thread and silk,
which they gave out to their workwomen to be
made up according to their orders.13 In the
northern part of the county Newport Pagnell
was a sort of staple town for bone-lace,14 and it
was said to produce more lace than any other
town in the country.18 A lace-market was held
every Wednesday at which great quantities were
sold. Lace-buyers also came round from the
London houses about once a month, meeting the
lace-makers at some inn, such as the ' Nagg's
Head ' at Thame, and there buying their stock.18
The Anti-Gallican Society some years before
had awarded its first prize for lace shown by
Mr. William Marriott, of Newport Pagnell,17
and in 1761 Earl Temple, the Lord Lieutenant
of Buckinghamshire, presented the king, on
behalf of the lace-makers, with a pair of fine
lace ruffles, made at the same town.18
Aylesbury was also noted for the fine quality
of the lace made there.1* In the i8th century
the women in the workhouse were employed in
lace-making instead of spinning.*0 In 1784 the
overseers entered two cloths for lace-pillows in
their accounts ; " in the same year they paid \d.
' Memoirs of tht ferney Family, iv, 2 1 3.
' The Spectator, no. 98.
" Treasury Papers, ccviii, 47.
" Langley, Hist, of the Hun,/, of Deshorough.
" Treainry Papers, ccviii, 47.
11 Pinnock, Hist, and Topog. of Engl. i, 3 1 .
" Defoe, Tour through Great Britain (1778), ii, 173.
11 Bull, Hilt, of Newport Pagnell, 17.
" W. Shrimpton, Notes on a decayed Needle-land, 25.
" Mrs. Bury Palliscr, Hist, of Lace (1902), 380.
" Ibid.
" Defoe, Tour through Great Britain (1778), ii, 173.
10 Aylesbury Overseers' Accounts. " Ibid.
to ' four girls cutting off,' and on another occasion
Mary Slade received 31. yd. to set up lace-
making.** Lace played a prominent part also
in the Parliamentary elections for the borough.13
No candidate could hope to be successful if he
did not promise to uphold the bone-lace in-
dustry and denounce the machine-made lace of
Nottingham. A lace-pillow was mounted on a
pole and carried at the head of processions, and
banners were hung with Aylesbury lace, for
which enormous prices were paid.
The lace trade flourished in the early part of the
1 9th century, and its extent is well illustrated by
the village of Hanslope.** In 1801, 500 people
out of a population of 1,275 were employed in
lace-making, and both men and women made it
their regular employment. No women's labour
for agricultural work could be obtained in the
county ** owing to the good wages they were
paid for lace-making.
The decline came very quickly after the close
of the French wars. The introduction of
machine-made lace about 1835 ** and the effects
of free trade gradually killed the industry." The
quality of the lace made fell off, and in spite of
temporary revivals the trade proper became ex-
tinct about I884.*8 The industry, however,
lingered on in many parts of the county, and of
late years a great effort has been made to bring
about a revival. The North Bucks Lace
Association was formed in 1897, and is the
largest association of the kind. It aims not only
at reviving old patterns and improving the quality
of the lace made, but also at securing a better
price than the workers can obtain for themselves.
In other parts of the county various people have
interested themselves in the industry, and very
beautiful lace is now made, such as the lace in
Hughenden Church.
In the south of the county other trades,
especially chair-making, afford both an easier and
at the same time a better paid occupation for
the women, so that there is less lace-making than
round Buckingham and Newport Pagnell.
Another difficulty in the way of the revival of
the industry is the length of time taken in learn-
ing to make lace. It seems probable that after
the present generation of workers has passed
away no fine, wide lace will be made any more
with the object of earning a livelihood. Chil-
dren, in order to become expert workers, must
begin very young and work more hours a day
than is possible whilst they are attending school.
In the flourishing days of the industry there
were hardly any schools except lace-schools in
" Ibid. " Gibbs, Hut. of Ajksburj, 62 I .
** Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 482.
" St. John Prie»t, Gen. Clew of Agric. of Burks.
346.
" Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 196.
" Palliser, Hist, of Lace (1902), 393.
" Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 196.
107
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
the county. Sir William Borlase's school at
Great Marlow was not continued long, but in
1672 the Aylesbury overseers paid Mary Sutton
5*. to teach the workhouse children to make
lace.29 At Hanslope children were sent to the
lace-schools when they were five years old,30 and
both boys and girls could maintain themselves by
the time they were eleven or twelve. The hours
were very long, and schools were held in small
cottages without sufficient light or ventilation.
In some parts of the county the children were
sent to the lace-schools at four years old. The
old woman who kept the principal lace school at
Lane End died about a year ago at the age of
eighty-six. The schools must have disappeared
about thirty to thirty-five years ago, but the
children then seem to have had first about an
hour's reading lesson, followed by six to seven
hours' lace-making.31 Besides the children, the
skilled workers were crowded in large numbers
into a small room, with the result that the in-
dustry was most unhealthy. As early as ijSz31
Pennant noticed the pale faces of the girls at
Newport Pagnell, due to their sedentary trade,
and three years later a writer in the Gentleman's
Magazine 33 suggested remedies for. this state of
things. In the course of a journey in Bucking-
hamshire and Northamptonshire his attention
was drawn to ' the frequent sight of deformed and
diseased women in these counties.' He found
they were mostly lace-makers, growing deformed
and ill from the stooping position in which they
worked and from sitting in ' small, low and close '
rooms. His recommendations probably had no
effect, and in 1797 lace-making in the towns of
the hundred of Desborough did not ' induce
those habits of neatness and industry which
appear highly necessary to render an occupation
beneficial to a county." 34
The kind of lace made in Buckinghamshire
has passed through many variations, but it has
always been pillow-lace of one kind or another,
the most characteristic lace being pillow-point, or
' half-stitch ' as it is called in the county.38 The
earliest Buckinghamshire lace was old Flemish
with a wavy and graceful pattern and well-
executed ground. Some of the patterns seem to
have been worked in with a needle on the net
ground. In 1778 point-ground was introduced,
and from that time the staple pillow-lace of the
county developed. Much of the point-ground
was made by men. The principal branch of the
89 Aylesbury Overseers' Accounts, quoted in Gibbs,
Hist, of Aylesbury, 6 1 7.
30 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 482.
" Information kindly given by Miss E. Johnson,
Lane End, nr. High Wycombe.
ij 'Journey from Chester to Land. 342.
33 Vol. Iv, 938.
" Thomas Langley, Hist, of Hund. of Desborough,
10.
36 Palliser, Hist. of Lace (1902), 384.
trade was ' baby lace ' and edgings, mostly used
in trimming babies' caps.36 Point-ground was
used, while the patterns were copied from Lille
or Mechlin lace.37 Large quantities were ex-
ported to the United States until the outbreak of
the Civil War, when the demand ceased rapidly.38
Other sorts of grounds were made, such as
'wire,' 'double,' and ' trolly.'38 Fresh kinds of
lace were introduced at the outbreak of the
French War at the close of the i8th century.
Manufacturers undertook to supply French laces,
and both true Valenciennes lace and ' French
ground' were then made in Buckinghamshire.40
Early in the igth century Regency Point came
into fashion, a point lace with cloth or toile
on the edge. Insertions were also introduced,
and made in large quantities. A lace made of
worsted of various colours, called Norman lace,
suddenly became fashionable, 41 and the demand
was great, especially in the United States. The
trade dropped, however, as suddenly as it had
arisen. In the middle of the igth century
Maltese lace was introduced, resulting in a great
recovery in the industry.42 It was made both
of thread and silk,43 and completely ousted the
older Buckinghamshire lace, which could no
longer compete with the machine-made article.
At the Exhibition of 1862 hardly anything but
Maltese lace was exhibited, but a fresh impulse
was given to the trade.44 New kinds of Maltese
lace were introduced called ' plaited laces,' but
this revival of lace-making came to an end
about 1870, the quality of the lace having be-
come worse and worse, both as to pattern and
material.4* The last variety of lace appeared
about 1875, and was called Yac lace. It was
made from a species of goat's hair dyed to all
colours, but the fashion died out very quickly.46
Maltese lace-making lingered on in the
different villages, and is still made, but the
North Bucks Lace Association and kindred
societies encourage the older and more charac-
teristic ' Buckinghamshire lace.' Old stores of
lace have been sought out and the patterns
revived. A good deal of jealousy used to exist
with regard to the copying of patterns, and the
same feeling has again appeared of late years.
The pattern is pricked on a strip of parchment
and pinned down to the pillow. It is about ten
inches long,47 and in Buckinghamshire the custom
36 Defoe, Complete English Tradesman (1738), ii,
347-
" Palliser, Hist, of Lace, 385.
88 Ibid. 386. " Ibid. 387.
40 Ibid. 388.
41 Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 1 96.
41 Ibid.
43 Palliser, Hist, of Lace (1902), 392.
44 Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 622.
45 Palliser, Hist, of Lace (1902), 392.
46 Bull, Hist, of Newport Pagnell, 196.
47 Palliser, Hist, of Lace (1902), 391.
1 08
INDUSTRIES
is to have two of these strips, and as one is
finished the other is placed below it, the lace-
maker thus working round and round the pil-
low. The lace is made of linen thread, and at
the present day there is considerable difficulty
in procuring it fine enough and even enough.4*
This was probably a difficulty in earlier times,
and silk was used many years before Maltese lace
was introduced.4* Amersham and Great Marlow
were specially noted for the black silk lace made
there.*0 The bobbins were originally made of
bone — hence the name bone-lace ; but more
frequently they are of wood.11 The number
used varies according to the design, but for a
wide pattern as many as 500 may be needed.
Old bobbins often show an interesting history
of their owner, since it was the custom to
inscribe them with names and the dates of
various events occurring in her life. Forty
years ago it was still the custom to give bobbins,
often of intricate workmanship, as love-tokens."
The pillow was, however, the costliest part of a
lace-maker's implements. It is a hard round
cushion, stuffed with straw and well-hammered
to make it hard, and covered with ' pillow-cloth.' w
The making of pillows was almost a monopoly,
one family making them for a district.*4 A
pillow with all its appurtenances in some cases
cost as much as ^5 in the early part of the
igth century. In the prosperous days of the
industry women could earn very good wages,
often making more than their husbands, who
were agricultural labourers. In 1794 the
average wages of the best lace hands were from
ii. to u. 6d. a day,'* but about the same time
in the Thames Valley women only earned lod.
a day and girls about \d. and 6d.M In 1813
the wages given were rather lower, <)d. to is.
a day, but good workers at Aylesbury, before
machine-made lace killed the trade, could earn
25J.18 a week, and married women who did not
give their whole time to the work often made
as much as £i a week. The workers were
sometimes, however, only paid once a month,
after the lace-buyers had come round and the
local lace-men had sold their store of lace.**
At the present day the lace-makers are paid
by the hour, and the wages are not high, vary-
ing from i^d. to i^d. per hour.*0
Many old customs existed amongst the lace-
makers. St. Catherine was their patron saint,
and her festival was kept as a holiday till
recent years.*1 The Aylesbury Overseers*'
even gave the lace-makers in the workhouse
' 3». to keep Catern,' and special Catern cakes
were made to celebrate the holiday.
At Aylesbury a lace-queen was chosen from
among the lace-makers and carried round the
town on a platform, working on her pillow, and
accompanied by a band and a great crowd.**
Whether these processions were held on St.
Catherine's Day is not clear, but more prob-
ably they took place during fairs, since the
time of year commanded indoor celebrations of
the lace-makers' holiday rather than street pro-
cessions.
In some parts of the county the women, who
have lost their employment owing to the decline
of the lace trade, have taken to sequin and bead
work. This is the case round Princes Ris-
borough, particularly at Lacey Green, Amer-
sham, and near High Wycombe.64 At Lacey
Green bead-work has been done about twenty-
five years, and was sent to London, but the
demand is lessening, and only an occasional
order is now received.
WOODEN WARE AND CHAIR-MAKING
The beechwoods of the Chiltcrn districts
have naturally led to the manufacture of wooden
ware for many years. Presumably the 1 3th-
century names, Hubert Turnator, Peter le
Turnur, and Bartholomew le Turnur, specify
the trade carried on by their bearers, a trade
which afterwards obtained a considerable im-
u Pamphltt of the North Bucks. Lace Aisoc. 7.
* Aylesbury, Overseers' Accounts, 1 787.
** Pinnock, Hist, and Topog. of Engl. i, 25, 52.
" Pamphlet of the North Bucks. Lace Assot. 9.
"Ibid.
" Palli«er, Hist, of Lace (1902), 391.
M Gibbs, Hist, ofAylesbury, 617.
" W. James and J. Malcolm, Gen. View of Agric.
•fBucki.
14 Arthur Young, Six Months' Tour, iii, 356.
" St. John Priest, Gen. Yievi of Agric. in Bucks.
3|6.
portance, and was and is specially centred at
Chesham.1 In 1725 Defoe1 mentions the
supply of beechwood which was then used for
making felloes for ' the great cars of London,
cole-carts, dust-carts, &c., which the city laws
do not allow to have tyres of iron,' for the
billet wood for the king's palaces and similar
purposes, and lastly for chairs and turnery ware.
*• Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 621.
** Shrimpton, Notes on a Decayed Needle-land.
M Information kindly given by Miss E. Johnson.
* M em. of the Perney Family, i, 1 1 .
" Overseen' Accts. 1 797.
0 Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 621.
64 From information kindly given by Mrs. Robson,
Lacey Green Vicarage, and Miss Tighe, Looseley
House, Princes Risborough.
1 llund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, «, 35, 36.
' Tour in Gt. Brit. (1725), ii, 7*.
109
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
At the close of the i8th century the value of
the woods had considerably increased, frequent
felling having been found more advantageous to
the owners than allowing the trees to come to a
considerable size.3 Even then, however, the
wisdom of carrying this new system too far was
doubted. The uses to which the wood was put
were much the same as in Defoe's time — spokes,
felloes, bedsteads, and chairs.4 Chesham be-
came noted for its turnery ware early in the
following century, but in 1862 its wooden ware
and turnery trade was declining.' There are,
however, a considerable number of manufac-
turers still carrying on the trade in the town
and neighbourhood, wooden dairy utensils being
a speciality of some makers. Several firms also
make brushes of various kinds. Chair-making,
though possibly of later development than the
wooden-ware manufactory, has outstepped it in
importance. Both Defoe and Langley mention
chair-making as one of the uses to which the
beechwoods on the Chilterns were put, but the
industry does not seem to have become of great
importance until the igth century.6 In 1830
there were said to be only two chair manu-
facturers in High Wycombe,7 which has since
become the centre of the industry. In 1862
one of the chief manufacturers of the town
described the early condition of the business in
the following words8: — 'When I began the
trade ... I loaded a cart and travelled to
Luton. All there was prosperous. There was
a scramble for my chairs ; when I came home
I laid my receipts on my table, and said to my
wife : " You never saw so much money before." '
The demand for chairs grew rapidly, and the
Wycombe chair-makers supplied the chairs for
the Crystal Palace, for St. Paul's Cathedral, and
many barracks,9 and a large export trade, espe-
cially to the Colonies, was developed in the
middle of the igth century.10 It was then the
boast of Wycombe that it turned out a chair a
minute all the year round, or 1,800 doz. per
week,11 that is, over 1,100,000 per annum.
In 1885 there were about fifty chair-makers,
large and small, in Wycombe,12 and at the present
day the number has reached nearly a hundred.
The trade has, however, suffered a depression of
late years, owing to the loss of some of the
foreign trade, which has passed into American
s Langley, Hist, of the Hund. of Desborough, 9.
4 Ibid.
6 Pinnock, Hist, and Topog. of Engl. i, 24 ; Lips-
comb, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 263 ; Sheahan, Topog. of
Bucks. 838.
6 Tour in Gt. Brit, ii, 72 ; Hist, of Hund. of
Desborough, 9.
' Factory and Workshops Rep. xv, 185.
8 Sheahan, Topog. of Bucks. 220.
Ibid.
Ibid.
11 Factory and Workshops Rep. xv, 185.
» Ibid.
and Austrian hands, and the competition at home
is so severe that some of the work done is unre-
munerative.13 Nevertheless nearly every village
round Wycombe has its manufactory, employing
both men and women, boys and girls.14
The falls of timber take place in November
and March, when the trees are sold by auction,
and the manufacturers lay in their stock of wood.16
Beech wood forms the greater part of the raw
material, but elm is used for the seats, and ash
for the bows of Windsor and similar chairs.
Oak and walnut are only as a rule procured for
special orders.16
The manufacturers in 1885 were divided
into three classes, which still obtain at the present
day. In the first place there are those who have
their own steam saw-mills, and turn out the
finished article ; then come manufacturers who
send their wood to public saw-mills to be cut up
into lengths, and afterwards turn out the chair
complete ; and lastly, there are smaller men
who live in the surrounding villages and supply
the manufacturer proper with what is called
' turned stuff,' i.e., with fore-legs, stretchers,
and lists of chairs according to pattern. Thus
it often happens that only the backs, hind-legs,
and seats are made at the factory proper, other
parts being sent in from the country. There
much of the work is done in the cottages, the
wood being turned by hand, after it has come,
cut up in lengths, from the saw-mill.
Certain factories in High Wycombe specialize
in a particular part of the chair, and turn out
nothing but chair-backs, or seats. The seats are
made by women and girls, who learn the trade
at an early age. When the work is done at
home, they can earn about ijrf. an hour for
caning, and rather more for ' matting,' a dirtier
and harder process.17 The greater number of
chairs made in this district are, however, seated
with cane, not rushes, and the splitting is all
done by hand. All kinds of chairs are made,
from the common kinds known as Windsor,
cathedral, bedroom, kitchen, barrack chairs, to
the more elaborate patterns made by the larger
manufacturers of High Wycombe. The oak
chairs, for instance, made for the judges at the
Royal Courts of Justice were manufactured at
Wycombe, and, more recently, the mahogany
chairs used by the peers and peeresses at the
coronation of King Edward VII.18
Besides the actual chair-makers there are
several firms who make articles used in the manu-
facture, such as varnish and chair-makers' tools.
13 Ibid.
14 Information given by Miss E. Johnson, Lane
End.
15 Factory and Workshops Rep. xv, 185.
" Ibid.
17 Information given by Miss Johnson, Lane End.
18 Copies or examples shown at an exhibition held
at Aylesbury, July 1905.
IIO
INDUSTRIES
PAPER-MAKING
Various causes have made paper-making a
profitable undertaking in Buckinghamshire. Espe-
cially in the Thames Valley, the water-power ob-
tained from the tributaries of the river, the easy
means of communication by water, and the nearness
to London, all favoured its manufacture, and at the
close of the reign of Elizabeth paper-mills had
already been established. John Spilman, the
queen's jeweller, obtained a licence that he himself,
or his deputies, should alone build any paper-mills
or collect linen rags in the country,1 but by
1600 other mills had been erected, and he peti-
tioned for assistance against the paper manufac-
turers. John Turner, Edward Marshall, and
George Friend, had built a mill in Buckingham-
shire, but its exact position is not mentioned in
Spilman's petition. Other mills must have been
built very quickly in spite of his licence. In
1636 there were twelve paper-mills in the
county,1 one of the most important being at
Horton, worked by Edmund Phipps. He waschief
constable of the county, and seems to have worked
his mill with but little consideration for the conve-
nience of his neighbours. In fact the paper-mills
seem to have been thoroughly unpopular in the
country, owing to the importation of rags, and the
consequent outbreaks of the plague. Phipps was
presented at an ecclesiastical court in 1635 for
working his mill on Sunday all through the
year.1 The next year the mills were stopped
owing to the prevalence of the plague, and the
paper-masters petitioned for a contribution from
the county towards their relief. This made
them even more unpopular than before, and the
justices of the peace made a counter petition,
not only against the rate, but for the destruction
of the mills altogether. Some of these mills
were already built at High Wycombe,4 or near
the town, and this district became the centre of
the paper-making industry in Buckinghamshire.
At Horton, Richard West had succeeded Phipps
as paper-maker by 1649.'
At the close of the I7th century* a bill was
brought into Parliament for the formation of a
company with the monopoly of making white
writing and printing paper. Whilst it was
before the House of Lords, the mayor, alder-
men and inhabitants of Chopping Wycombe
petitioned against the formation of such a com-
pany, which would ruin their trade. There
were then, in 1690, eight paper-mills at High
Wycombe ; probably they were not all within
1 S.P. Dom. Eliz. cclxxvi, 6.
' Ibid. Chas. I, cccxliv, 40.
1 Ibid, ccxcvi, 17.
4 Ibid, ccccviii, 148.
• Gyll, Hitt. ofWrajtburj, 98.
* Hitt. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. pt. v, 74.
the borough itself, but were in the neighbour-
hood, and fifty families were employed in
making paper. The men had mostly been
apprenticed to the trade, and if the prohibition
against making white paper became law, they
would come, for the most part, with their
families on the rates. The Wycombe mills
were worked by water from the River Wye,
but other mills were established on the Loddon,
which runs into the Thames between Wycombe
and Great Marlow.7
In the 1 8th century paper-making was the
most important industry in the county, with
the possible exception of lace.8 In 1797 Thomas
Langley wrote : — 'The paper manufacture is very
flourishing and has experienced every attention
its importance so highly deserves.' * The paper-
mills at Horton and Wyrardisbury (Wraysbury)
were worked during the greater part of the i8th
century, but for a time were converted into iron
or copper mills.10 Wyrardisbury mills were
re-converted into paper-mills early in the igth
century,11 while in the northern part of the
county the manufacture was carried on at
Newport Pagnell and at Marsworth,1* and
other mills may have existed on the northern
streams. The Marsworth mill was destroyed
by the construction of the grand Junction
Canal, which took away all the water of the
stream, for the reservoirs and canal. In 1831
there were seventy-six paper manufacturers in
the county, while 220 men or boys were em-
ployed in the trade either as masters or work-
men.18 Since then a mill at Chenies stopped
working between 1851 and i86i,u and at the
present day the chief paper-mills are in the
south of the county, the most important being
at High Wycombe, Great Marlow, Wooburn,
Iver, and Bledlow.
The first paper made in Buckinghamshire
was writing and printing paper of good quality,11
but in 1636-7 complaints were made that the
paper would not bear ink on either side, while
the price had risen considerably.1* So little com-
petition was there, that Phipps and his fellow
manufacturers seem to have made a great profit
on the manufacture of bad paper, while a few
' Defoe, Tour in Gt. Brit. (17*5), ii, 70.
• W. James and J. Malcolm, Gen. Vino ofJgrit. In
Bucks. (1794).
•T. Langley, Hilt. ofHunJ. ofDesbonugh, 9.
"Gyll, Hitt. of Wraysbury, 71, 198.
11 Lipscomb, Hist, tf Bucks, iv, 620.
" Pinnock, Hist. anJ Tofog. ofEngl. i, 3 1 . Informa-
tion supplied by Rev. W. Ragg.
"Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34.
"Ibid. 1861, i, 298.
" S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccclixvi, 6.
"Ibid. Chai. I, cccxliv, 40 (i).
Ill
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
years before they had stopped their mills by
combination to bring down the price of rags.
The Wycombe mill-owners claimed to make
the best kinds of white writing and printing
paper. The price varied from 3*. to 2os. a
ream, and the Paper Act of 1690 aimed at
preventing their making it over 4.1. a ream.17
Some makers did make this good paper, but the
greater part was probably of a cheaper kind, since
in mentioning the paper-mills near Wycombe
and Marlow in 1725, Defoe18 said that printing
paper was made ' good of its kind and cheap such
as generally is made use of in printing our news-
papers, journals, &c., and smaller pamphlets,
but not much fine or large for bound books or
writing.' During the i8th century, however,
many improvements were made in the manufac-
ture. These were due largely to the efforts of
Mr. John Bates, a paper-maker at Wycombe
Marsh. His chief discovery was a method of pro-
ducing paper for mezzotints and other engraved
plates, which was equal to the French paper for
the same purpose, and for this he received the
gold medal of the Society of Arts in lySy.18
Besides the invention of this special paper,
other manufacturers at the close of the i8th
century were making only papers dt luxe. The
Rye Mill at High Wycombe, for instance,
which has been in existence for certainly a hun-
dred years and probably for longer, has always
produced paper of this class for writing, drawing,
ledgers, and bank notes.20
TANNING AND SHOEMAKING
Several tan-yards used to exist in the county,
but they are now closed and there is only
one firm of tanners in Buckingham at the
present day. So important were the tan-yards
of the town of Buckingham that the tanners
formed one of the four companies to which all
the burgesses of the borough belonged.1 In
1831, 2 131 men were employed in the business
there, but no other tanneries are mentioned.
At Olney, however, the tan-yards must have
been working at that time,8 and it was noted
for the excellence of its leather in all parts of
the kingdom. Leather tanning seems to have
been given up some thirty years ago, when the
tan-yard, worked by Mr. Joseph Palmer for oak-
bark tanning, was closed. His yard, however,
has been purchased within the last few years by
Messrs. W. E. & J. Pebody, Ltd., and the works
re-constructed, being old-fashioned and disused
for many years. The process of chrome tanning
is now carried on by the firm at the Olney
yard.
The manufacture of boots and shoes, which has
developed at Olney during the last twenty years,
was not established till after the tan-yard was
closed, so that its growth can have no connexion
with the tannery.
Boot and shoe-making is also the most im-
portant trade of the town of Chesham. One of
17 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. pt. v, 74.
18 Defoe, Tour in Gt. Brit. (1725), ii, 70, 71.
19 Robert Gibbs, Worthies of Bucks. 30 ; T. Lang-
ley, Hist. ofHund. ofDesbonugh.
80 Information supplied by Messrs. T. H. Saunders
& Co. Ltd., Rye Mill, High Wycombe.
1 Brown Willis, Hut. and Antiq. of the Town, etc.
of Buckingham.
1 Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 35.
3 From information kindly given by Messrs. W. E.
& J. Pebody, Ltd. Cowper Tannery, Olney.
the chief manufacturers at the present time states
that there has been an industry there for many
generations, and that it was probably due to the
existence of several tan-yards in the town.
These latter have been given up a very long
time, owing doubtless to the later mode of pro-
ducing leather by much larger firms in London
and other leather centres, and to the large quan-
tity of leather imported. In the i6th century
the shoemakers at High Wycombe succeeded in
closing the market to ' foreign ' shoemakers,4 but
at the close of the reign of Elizabeth a new
order was made by the mayor and bailiffs, in
which the restriction against showing goods in
the market was specially removed from the
victualling and shoemaking trades. There is,
however, no mention of any particular locality
in which shoes were made in any quantity.
Early in the igth century a great many
hands were employed at Chesham in the shoe-
making trade, the goods manufactured being
sent in the main to the London market.* It is
curious, however, that shoemaking does not ap-
pear among the handicrafts or manufactures of
the county in the census of 1831.' A few years,
later the trade was flourishing,7 and by 1862
it had assumed very considerable proportions,
the goods being both sent to London and ex-
ported to foreign countries.8 For many years
all the boots and shoes were made by hand
throughout, and the work was done in the homes
of the workers. This is still the case to the
extent that hand-work is produced, but
there are few, if any, young ' hand sewn ' men
in the town. When boots began to be riveted>
* Wycombe Borough Records.
4 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 536.
'Pop. Ret. 1831,!, 34.
7 Lipscomb, Hist, of Such, iii, 263.
8 Sheahan, Hist, and Topog. of Bucks. 838.
112
INDUSTRIES
a number of these men took to that branch of
the trade, and the term shoemaker is no longer
used, except among the hand-makers, for several
hands contribute now in the making of a pair of
boots — the riveters, sewers, and finishers and
several others all carrying on a specialized part
of the work. At one or two factories the
welting machine has been introduced and then
discarded as not satisfactory for the somewhat
stronger classes of boots for which Chesham has
become noted. For many years these classes of
boots formed the staple of the Chesham factories,
and to a large extent this is still the case. The
boots, when finished, are sent all over the country
and a considerable quantity of them are exported.
The conditions of the trade at the present time
are said to be good. 'The families engaged in
the boot trade here are very well paid and gene-
rally occupy good class cottages of the better
order ; a strike is scarcely ever heard of ...
employers and employed appear to get on very
well together. There is no trade union here,
from time to time efforts have been made from
outside to establish one. There is sufficient
demand for labour that an unreasonable employer
would find his men leave him.' '
STRAW-PLAITING
A second home industry, which still employs
a certain number of people in Buckinghamshire,
is the manufacture of straw-plait for hats and
bonnets. The manufacture first became import-
ant in Italy, Leghorn hats being still famous,
but it does not seem to have been introduced
into England until the i8th century, when the
French War stopped the importation of foreign
plait. The industry spread quickly in Bedford-
shire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, where
the wheat-straw produced was the most favour-
able for English plait. In 1768 when Arthur
Young visited Dunstable,1 the manufacture of
straw-plait was established, but had not grown
to much importance, basket-work being still the
chief industry of the neighbourhood. Probably
in the neighbouring county of Buckingham
there was then no straw-plaiting, but by the end
of the 1 8th century it had spread all over the
county.
In 1813 lace and straw-plaiting were the
chief industries* of the county, occupying so
many women and girls that none of them
worked in the fields.
When foreign plait was unprocurable, the Eng-
lish article was much used, but the large size
of the wheat-straws used made it very inferior to
the Italian plait.1 To overcome this defect the
straws were split and the narrow ' splints ' used
instead of the whole straw. At first this process
was done by hand with a pen-knife, but it was
tedious and difficult to obtain uniformity in the
size of the splints. A straw-splitting machine was
then introduced, which greatly added to the suc-
cess of the industry. It is not certain who was
the original inventor, several stories existing as
to the first machine made. One of these, how-
ever, claims that the honour belongs to a Bucking-
' Information given by Messrs. J. & E. Reynolds.
1 Si* Months' Tour, i, 1 6.
' St. John Priest, Agr'u. Surv. of Bucks. 346.
1 Penny Cyclopaedia xziii.
2 113
hamshire man. In an account of straw-plaiting
written in 1822, the following story is given4 : —
Our informant states that his father, Thomas Sim-
mons (now deceased), was residing when a boy, about
the year 1785, at Chalfont St. Peter's, Buckinghamshire,
and that when amusing himself one evening by cutting
pieces of wood, he made an article upon which he put
a straw and found that it divided it into several pieces.
A female who was present asked him to give it to her,
observing that if he could not make money of it, she
could. She had the instrument, and gave the boy a
shilling. He was subsequently apprenticed to a black-
smith ; and on visiting his friends, he found them
engaged in splitting straws with a pen-knife. Per-
ceiving that the operation might be better performed
by an apparatus similar to that which he had made
some time before, he then made some machines of
iron on the same principle.
The straw-splitting machine does not seem to
have come into general use until about 1815.
The most successful period of the manufacture
was during the French War, when foreign plaits
were prohibited. The latter were in many ways
superior to English plait, but various efforts were
made to improve its quality, especially by the
Society of Arts.* These efforts maintained the
industry for a considerable period and it was in a
flourishing condition in the middle of the iQth
century. Lipscomb, writing at that time,* says
that at Broughton ' the female population were
chiefly employed, formerly in lace-making but
more recently in platting straw or chip hats and
bonnets ' and at High Wycombc lace-making had
been almost entirely superseded by straw and chip
plaiting.7
Very good wages, for the time, were earned at
the trade. In 1813 women were able to earn
3<3J. a week,8 but this was probably the highest
4 Ibid. 109. 'Johnson, Universal Cyclopaedia.
* Hist, of Bucks, iv, 77. ' Ibid, iii, 644.
•St.
346.
John Priest, Gen. View of Agric. of Bucks.
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
rate obtainable, and in the Aylesbury district 22s.
a week were the best wages obtained while the in-
dustry was most successful.8 Ivinghoe and Ayles-
bury were the chief centres of the manufacture
in Buckinghamshire. At the former, the Satur-
day market was largely for straw-plait, which was
still brought to it in considerable quantities in
i862.10 At Aylesbury a plait-market was estab-
lished by Mr. Robert Thorpe in 1846 n and suc-
ceeded for a time, but was finally given up owing
to the drop in prices that shortly occurred. In
1862 the following places carried on the industry
in the county, Bow Brickhill, Great Brickhill,
Little Brickhill, Wavendon, Aston Abbots,
Drayton Parslow, Hoggeston, Pitstone, Stewkley,
Swanbourne,Whitchurch, Amersham, besides the
Ivinghoe and Aylesbury districts.13 The industry
had many different kinds of workers, with a great
deal of specialization ; there were bleachers,
cutters, dyers, flatters, stringers, drawers, and
packers each doing their own particular work in
making the straw-plait.13
Although the end of the French War made
straw-plaiting less profitable in England than it
had been before, it was not till the removal of the
import duties on foreign plait, that the real decay
of the industry set in. Buckinghamshire seems to
have lost the greater part of its trade in this article
sooner than the other straw-plaiting counties,14
but it is still carried on about Ivinghoe and Ed-
lesborough.15 A rough estimate fixes 500 to
600 as the number of straw-plaiters in Bucking-
hamshire, but the industry is still declining, the
demand being very small. The workers, too,
prefer factory or domestic service, for both of
which there is a great demand.
BRICKS, TILES AND POTTERY
In a county possessing but little stone for build-
ing, the manufacture of bricks was one of the
most important industries. In the rates of wages
fixed by the justices of the peace in I562,1 only
five kinds of artificers are especially mentioned,
namely, master carpenters and sawyers, brick-
layers, tilers and thatchers. Bricklayers and tilers
were to receive 8d. a day in summer and 6d. in
winter, and their labourers dd. and 5^.
respectively, though in fact they received much
more.
In the I yth century,8 Sir Ralph Verney
started a considerable amount of building, and in
his correspondence with his steward there are
many details about the brick-fields at Claydon.
In 1 656 he paid the brick-maker 6s. a thousand for
making and burning bricks, I s. a quarter for burn-
ing lime, and 51. a hundred for making and burning
pavements. The year before he had procured
brick pavements from the neighbouring villages.
They were 9 in. square and there was some
difficulty in the carting of them to Claydon.
The steward wrote that if Sir Ralph ' take soe
great a quantity, as from 12 or 15 hundred to-
gether .... 6 oxen would not well draw 500
at a loade, for they are not near twice so heavy
as brick and an ordinary cart will bring on 5 or 6
hundred of brick at a loade now that wages are
good.' The building had to be stopped very soon
"Gibbs, Hiit. of Aylesbury, 667.
10 Sheahan, Topog. of Bucks. 694.
11 Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 667.
11 Sheahan, Topog. of Bucks.
"Gibbs, Hist, of Aylesbury, 667.
"V.C.H.Beds. ii, 121.
15 Information kindly supplied by Mr. William Gray,
plait merchant, Edlesborough.
1 S.P. Dom. Eliz. xix, 43.
* Memoirs of the Verney family, iii, 132.
after this owing to financial straits of the Verneys
after the Civil War, but Sir Ralph had already
ordered 100,000 bricks to be made and the work-
men could not be discharged at once. Two years
later, however, in 1658, the building was begun
afresh ; the brickyard was trenched and as soon
as the brickmakers could come, tools, wheel-bar-
rows and moulds were delivered to them by their
employer. Bricks and tiles were made at the
same period at Brill from the earth of Brill Hills *
and the brick-fields in the neighbourhood on the
line of the Brill Tramway still continue. The
earth there was also used for earthenware drain
pipes.
Brick-making was carried on in other parts
of the county in early times. In 1831,* 116
men were employed in the industry either as
masters or workmen, and in 1862 there were
brick-fields at Fenny Stratford, Whitchurch,
Burnham, Chalfont St. Peter and Hillesden.6
It is curious, however, that the brick-fields at
Slough are not mentioned at that date, since they
are now the most important in the county and
had been established before 1862.
The town of Slough has grown up very
recently ; the demand for houses there and the
facilities for the transportation of bricks have both
been made by the building of the Great Western
Railway. The brick-fields were started about
sixty-three years ago by Mr. Thomas Nash and
are now owned by a company formed in 1 893
under the name of H. & J. Nash, Ltd. The
fields extend into the neighbouring parishes
of Langley Marish and Iver, and about four-
teen million bricks are made annually, steam-
"Lipscomb, Hist, of Suds, i, 53.
* Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34
6 Sheahan, Hist, and Topog. of Bucks. 538, 772,
815, 827, 281.
114.
INDUSTRIES
power having been used for the last twenty
years.*
Buckinghamshire is not famous for any great
potteries, but the Brill pottery dates from very
ancient times. The first mention of potters
there is in 1254,' in an inquisition as to rights of
gathering wood in Brill Woods. The jurors gave
evidence as to the privileges of certain ecclesias-
tical lords and ended with saying that the potters
took small-wood, &c., for their kilns contrary to
the forest regulations. The right to dig brick
earth in Barnwood Forest was probably theirs
from time immemorial, but the lord of the
manor of Brill exacted an annual payment of
4*. bd. known as the 'Claygavel.' This was
paid in the I3th and I4th centuries with regu-
larity and is continually entered in the steward's
accounts.' At the disafforestmcnt of Barnwood
in the reign of James I,' an allotment of common-
able land was made for artificers and cottages, by
an order of the Court of Chancery, ' many
artificers of Brill having received employment by
making brick, tyle, lyme and potts out of the
soyle of Brill hills.' A pot was dug up at Long
Crendon near Brill, about 1885, containing coins
of the period of the Civil War and earlier, and
presumably was made by the Brill potters.
More recently the chief pottery works were
carried on by a family of the name of Hubbocks,
the last descendant being still at Brill at the
present time.10 They were potters for 1 49 years
and the father of the present Mr. Hubbocks owned
the last pottery. His kiln is still to be seen, and
was used till within three years of his death,
which took place about thirty-two years ago.
He used the old wheel and fashioned the pots
with his finger and thumb. At one time,
presumably during the lifetime of the elder
Hubbocks, there were seven potteries in Brill,
and in 1831 thirty-five men were employed in
making earthenware pottery in the county.11
The industry was, however, not in a flourishing
condition a few years later, owing to the in-
creased price of fuel and the cost of carriage,11
but in 1862, there was still a pottery for the
manufacture of brown earthenware. The colour
however, seems more generally to have been
' From information kindly given by Mr. A. H.
Woolley, 14 Mill Street, Slough.
7 HunJ. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 21.
' Mins. Accts. bdlc. 759, nos. 30, 31.
I Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, i, 107.
'* From information kindly obtained from Mr. Hub-
bocks, by Mrs. Riley, Brill Vicarage.
II Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34.
" Lipscomb, Hut. of Bucki. i, 107.
varying shades of yellow and green, produced by
the different kinds of clay from which the pots
were made.
Hubbocks made for the most part flower-pots
and large pans and jugs, one or two of which
are to be seen at Brill, but they bear no date
since he only dated his pots at the request of the
customer. His stock was bought up some
years ago ' for a museum in Oxford.'
An older pot is in the possession of Mr. F. H.
Parrott, of 'The Camp,' Kimble. It bears the
indented inscription 'M.M. 1764 'on its side
and on the bottom is written ' John Sheperde,
Poter, Brill, Bux.' The pot is of rough red
earthenware with a greenish-brown glaze and
was found in a cottage at Brill where it was
bought by a man at Aylesbury, who sold it to
its present owner.
There were other potteries at Coleshill, a ham-
let in the parish of Amersham, and at Chalfont
St. Peter, in the early part of the i gth century.11
The latter, which is now called the Beaconsfield
Pottery, was established in 1 805 by Mr. William
Wellins, but changed hands shortly and was
bought by Mr. John Swallow, who practically
was the real starter of the pottery. It has never
assumed very large proportions, and Mrs. M.
Saunders & Son, the lessees of the pottery, now
chiefly produce flower-pots, stands, chimney-pots
and pipes and similar articles.14 It has, however,
continued working to the present day, in spite of
the keen competition in the industry.
A pottery of another character existed near
Great 'Marlow until the present year, when
it was moved to Staffordshire.16 The Med-
menham pottery was established ten years ago
about a mile from the town of Great Marlow,
with the object of producing architectural pot-
tery and tiles with individuality in design and
execution. To secure this, the works were
established in the country, materials from Mar-
low being used when possible and village work-
people only employed for the most part. It has
however, been found impossible to continue the
pottery in Buckinghamshire, so far from the
main pottery districts. Some of the chief pieces
of work accomplished were, however, done while
the pottery was still at Marlow, one of the most
important being the frieze surrounding the new
hall of the Law Society in Chancery Lane.
11 Ibid, iii, 146 ; Sheahan, Hut. and lopog. of
Biukt. 8*7.
14 From information kindly supplied by Mrs.
Saunders & Son, Beaconsfield Pottery.
" Information kindly given by Mr. Conrad
Dressier.
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
BELL-FOUNDRIES
In the church tower of Caversfield, formerly
in Buckinghamshire but since 1845 included in
Oxfordshire, is what is probably the oldest
church bell remaining in England ; it may be
fairly considered as of ' local ' as opposed to
London origin. Its very curious form and
inscriptions have been fully described by the
present writer elsewhere,1 but its quite excep-
tional interest merits additional notice. The
shape is probably unique ; it has a very round
shoulder, an extremely long waist, and it is
nearly the same size all the way down from
shoulder to lip. Ordinarily the greatest thick-
ness of a bell is at the sound-bow, diminishing
again thence to an edge at the lip ; but in this
bell the thickness continues increasing below the
sound-bow until it ends abruptly in a flat lip
2 in. thick. The diameter at lip is 2of in. ;
height to crown 2o£ in. The large canons add
about another 7 in. to the height (5^ in. visible
under the stock).
Round the sound-bow is very legibly inscribed,
with a perfectly plain initial cross, in equally
plain capitals of Roman character, except only
that the G is curved in Lombardic character,
the A has a cross-bar on the top, and the 3 is
reversed : —
+ INHONORG • DEI • GT2ANTI •
LAVRGNCII
Round the sound-bow is a second inscrip-
tion,1* which had hitherto baffled all attempts
to decipher it. It was scratched in extra-
ordinary characters by hand on the cope, not
stamped, and is reversed, that is it reads from
right to left. It cannot be adequately repro-
duced in type, but the intention was apparently
as follows : —
HUGLH] GARGATfE] SIBILLAQCUE] UXOR
EJUS H[/EC] TIMPANNA (= tympana)
FECERUNT ECPONI (=exponi)
At the beginning of the reign of Henry II,
Brian Fitz Count, Lord of Wallingford, the
owner of the manor of Caversfield and other
estates, entered a religious house ; the king
seized the properties and bestowed this manor
on Roger Gargate. Ten years later (1164)
Roger granted the church of this parish to the
Abbey of Missenden, to take effect on the next
voidance of the rectory. Browne Willis2 states,
1 The Ch. Bells of Bucks. (Jarrold, 1 897).
u This inscription was erroneously described (torn,
cit.) as if on another and now destroyed bell.
' Hilt, and Antiq. of Town of Buckingham, 165. In
the 'Liber Cartarii Monasterii Beate Marie de Mis-
sendene ' are transcribed ten deeds concerning this
parish, but all dates are omitted.
on the authority of the Register of Missenden
Abbey, that Hugh Gargate confirmed his father's
donation, and that Hugh's wife, Sibill de Cavers-
field, swore that she would not interfere.
Hugh seems to have been in possession of the
estate by 1207, as his name appears in the Fine
Rolls for that year (9 John) ; and he was
apparently still living in 1216, as his name
appears in the Close Rolls for that year ( 1 8 John).
He must have died soon afterwards — in or before
1219 — because Kennett2 under the date of that
year (3 & 4 Hen. Ill) quotes a deed by which
Isabel daughter of Hugh Gargate of Caversfield,
widow, gave to the church at Burcester part
of a croft (the other part having been already
given by her sister Muriel) on condition that the
canons of that church should receive her and her
mother into the prayers of their house for ever.
Though the omission of her father's name does
not prove that he was dead, it tends to suggest
that supposition ; and dated the same year is
another deed in which there occurs — ' ego
Sybilla de Kaversfeld quondam uxor Hugonis
Gargat in pura viduitate,' which leaves no
doubt as to the fact. An agreement follows
between William de Ros and Sibil de Cavers-
field and Muriel her daughter, by which Sibil
and Muriel did remit to William de Ros the
lands which lately belonged to Hugh Gargat in
the village of Warmington. Dated 4 Hen. Ill
apud Oxon. (= 1220).
It seems therefore clear that the bell was cast
before 1219.
There is nothing to give any clue to its
founder, but in early days the difficulty of car-
riage usually necessitated the casting of church
bells either on the spot, or at a foundry
within some dozen miles, unless water-carriage
was available. No village is too small to have
been the site of a foundry, and many early bells
were turned out by monks in the religious houses,
but the three nearest towns to Caversfield are
Bicester (Oxon. 2 m. S.), Buckingham (8£ m.
NE.), and Woodstock (Oxon. 10 m. SW.).
There is apparently nothing to connect either of
the Oxfordshire towns with this craft (until the
1 7th century, when James Keene from Bedford
set up a foundry at Woodstock), but Buck-
ingham was the site of a flourishing bell-founding
business by the i6th century at any rate, and
several other bells have to be mentioned, show-
ing probably at least three ' local ' foundries not
out of range, in the course of the 1 4th century.
Oddly enough, the next five bells in age in
the county to that at Caversfield are by a London
" Par. Antiq. (ed. I, 1695), 189 ; (ed. 2, 1818),
i, 264, 266, 268.
116
INDUSTRIES
founder, Michael de Wymbis, by whom no other
bells arc known anywhere ; but there is docu-
mentary evidence proving that he was founding
bells in London in 1290, and dead by 1310.'
It seems a long way to have dragged two of his
bells all the way from London to Old Bradwell
and one to Lee ; the other two are at Bradenham,
and there is evidence apparently leaving no doubt
that they only came there in the i6th century,
probably bought second-hand after the suppres-
sion of some religious house not very far off".
As Bradenham itself is within a few miles of the
Thames, and the original home of the bells may
have been still nearer the river, their journey from
London would have been comparatively simple.
One other 1 4th-century bell in Buckinghamshire,
at Tattenhoe, is by a London founder, Peter de
Weston, who died in 1 347," but as the bell is quite
small, not much over I cwt., its transport would
have presented no serious difficulty.
Within a radius of 1 1 miles from Buckingham
as centre, or actually within a radius of under
<j miles from Leckhampstead, are no less than
nine bells which may be confidently assigned to
the 1 4th century; they are probably all of
' local ' origin, and seem to be the work of about
five different founders, though by no means
necessarily emanating from as many different
foundries ; that is to say that two or more
founders may have succeeded each other at the
same foundry. There is no reason to suggest
that any of the bells were cast at Leckhampstead,
but 4$- miles thence to the north-west was
Luffield Abbey, which is a very likely birthplace
for at least some of them.
Of these nine bells five have the same initial
cross in the inscription, so we need not doubt
their common origin, and three of the five have
the same lettering as well. Possibly the oldest
is the treble at Little Linford, inscribed in
rudely-formed Lombardic capitals, without any
stop or increase of space between the words : —
+AVEMARIAGRACIAPLENA
The tenor at Newton Purcell, only just over
the Buckinghamshire border, in Oxfordshire,
has the same inscription, but arranged thus : —
+ AVE : MARVIA : GRACT7IA : PLENA?
The treble at Barton Hartshorn, in Bucking-
hamshire, barely a mile from the last, has : —
+ IACOBVVS : ESTUNOMENtfEIVS
The shield on the two latter bells is chevronie,
but the cheverons are inverted. As this arrange-
ment has no existence hcr.ildic.illy it is doubtless
merely a trade device of the founder.
A fourth bell having the same initial cross as
•
1 Ch. Belli of Bucks. 6.
"Ibid. 9.*
the last three, but a better-formed lettering, is at
Thornton. It bears a rhyming hexameter : —
+ SINT : PRO I ELYA : MICHAEL \ DEVS !
ATQVE : MARIA
It seems to allude to Elias de Tingewick, who
was rector here from 1315 to 1347.*
The fifth appearance of the above initial cross
is on the treble at Radston or Radstone St. Law-
rence, Northants (west of Leckhampstead, and
within the suggested radius). Mr. North * un-
fortunately does not figure the lettering. Its
rhyming hexameter has something of a family
likeness to the last one : —
+ FIT ! TVA : LAVRENTI : FORMA :
CAMPANA: DECENTI
At Chetwode the single (large) bell also bears
a rhyming hexameter of similar character, in
lettering very similar to the Thornton set, but
smaller, with initial cross to correspond ; a re-
markable peculiarity of the inscription being the
employment of the initial ' I ' as the second syll-
able of a ' spondee,' to be read as ' J ' to avoid
making the previous syllable into a false
quantity : —
+ ME:TIBI:XP*E:DABAT: I: CHETWODE:
QVEM : PERAMABAT
There were several John Chetwodes to choose
from, but one who died c. 1347 gives approxi-
mately the expected date.
The same cross and lettering occur on the
saunce bell at Leckhampstead, in which the
oddly-blundered Latin inscription is made worse
by the letter ' K ' having apparently to do duty
for both ' H ' and ' R,' which seem to have been
broken or otherwise missing. The curiously
long-tailed 'Q' has been divided into three parts,
two of which do duty as stops between the
words. These facts, and the worn appearance
of the remaining letters, indicate that this bell is
later than that at Chetwode, but how much so
is difficult to determine, though quite possibly it
may not be older than the i6th century : —
+ CKESTIT S ME L FIKI S FECET
The late Mr. E. J. Payne * suggested that the
first word was intended to read 'CHESTIL'
as an abbreviated form of Chastillon, the family
to whom the manor belonged; if so 'L' (and
perhaps ' A ') may be added to the category of
missing letters ; but the Leckhampstead estate
passed out of the Chastillon family before 1398.*"
4 Browne Willis similarly explains the allusion in
Hist, and Anfiq. of Buck. 300.
• Ch. Belli of Nor than ft.
• In a review of ' The Ch. Bells of Bucb.' in Tbt
Records of Bucks, viii, 41 (1898).
• Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, iii, 24.
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
The eighth of this group of nine bells is the
other bell at Barton Hartshorn. The cross and
lettering are very similar to those on the treble
previously mentioned, which may be due merely
to contemporary style. The two sets are figured
on plate VI of Church Bells of Bucks, where the
'C' on the treble so closely matches the ' E" on
the tenor, that taken by themselves they would
probably be considered to belong to the same
set. The patterns of the heads and canons of
the two bells, however, differ so much as to
point (irrespective of the lettering) to different
founders, but not necessarily different foundries.
The inscription is : —
+ IHESVPIEFLOSMARIE
From the absence of any stop or increase of
space between the words, this bell seems closely
to correspond in date to the treble at Little
Linford, and though it may be evidence to the
contrary, it is more likely to show that these
two bells are the earliest of this group.
The last bell in this restricted radius is the
single at Foscott, which is blank, so beyond the
opinion that it undoubtedly belongs to the I4th
century, and is a well-cast bell, nothing more
can be said about it. A very careful comparison
of head and canons might possibly show a family
likeness to some other bell.
Besides the above nine bells there was for-
merly a bell evidently of the I4th century at
Caversfield (unfortunately melted in 1876), in-
scribed in a pretty little set of Lombardic
capitals and cross to match, together with the
impression of a coin : —
+ O IN + HOHORE (fie) + BEATI +
LAVRENCII
So far as can be judged by a rubbing (kindly
lent by Mr. H. B. Walters, F.S.A.), the saunce
at Idbury, Oxon (5^ miles N. by W. of
Burford), is inscribed with the same cross and
lettering : —
+ AVE S PLENA I GRACIA
The discovery of this bell has caused the writer
to alter the opinion expressed in Church Bells
of Bucks, that the Caversfield bell was cast in
London. It seems more likely that the two are
of ' local ' origin. Idbury is about 23 miles
west of Caversfield, so perhaps their founder
lived in Oxfordshire, somewhere about Chipping
Norton, or one of the villages to the south-east
of that town.
There are three bells in Buckinghamshire, the
seconds at Little Missenden, Ravenstone, and Stoke
Hammond respectively, which are believed to be
by John Rofford, Ruffbrd, or Rughford, who
was appointed royal bell-founder in 1367, and
was therefore probably working in London.
Bells by the same founder are found in Bedford-
shire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, and Leices-
tershire, and at Christchurch, Hants, where
there are two bearing unusually long inscrip-
tions, each consisting of two rhyming hexa-
meters. There is also a bell of this make
at Magdalen College School, Wainfleet, Lin-
colnshire, to which it must have been brought
second-hand, as the school was not founded till
1484. John Rofford was dead before 1390 ;
and was followed by a William Rufford, who is
believed to be the founder of the tenor at Hard-
mead, and of the second at Beachampton, which
latter was pronounced by the late Mr. J. C. L.
Stahlschmidt to be ' clearly a Midland counties'
bell ' ; otherwise William Rufford was thought
to be a London founder. In 1888 Mr. Stahl-
schmidt discovered that in the Patent Roll of
21 Richard II (1398) a William Belmaker of
Toddington, Bedfordshire, is mentioned, but he
hesitated to say whether this indicated an actual
bell-founder by trade, or a descendant of one re-
taining the trade name as a surname.7 In 1 906
Mr. Fred. G. Gurney,8 while making researches
into the history of the Ruffords of Northall in
Edlesborough (Buckinghamshire), traced the pedi-
gree back to ' William Rufford, of Tudyngton
belmaker,' who is mentioned in a licence dated
8 October 1390, by which Thomas Bullok
of Edlesborough might enfeoff the parsons of
' Tudyngton and Edelesburgh ' and others with
lands there, in trust to grant them to Thomas
Rufford his son-in-law, son of William above>
and to his wife Katherine, daughter of Thomas
Bullok.9 It is very probable that William the
Bellmaker of Toddington is identical with
William Rufford, and the existence of a bell
foundry at Toddington seems to be placed be-
yond doubt.
William Rufford was still living in 1415, for
another William, possibly his son, is called
'junior' at that date. The family took their
name from Rufford, in Chalgrove parish, co.
Oxon, where Thomas Rufford at his death in
1420 held 63 acres of the heirs of Dru (Drogo)
Barentyn as of the manor of ' Chalgrave ' 10 in
Oxfordshire, as well as land in chief at Edles-
borough in Buckinghamshire. Mr. Gurney
further mentions finding an Andrew Roffard of
an earlier date than John, who may have be-
longed to the same family. He was one of
many rioters to arrest whom commissioners were
appointed on 20 May 1348, on complaint of
the Black Prince, for having assaulted his ser-
vants, detained his horses and carts, and carried
away his goods at Thame.11
7 Cb. Belli of Bucks. 18.
8 Kindly communicated by letter to the writer.
' Cal. Pat. 1388-92, p. 305.
10 Inq. p.m. taken at Oxford, 8 Hen. V. By a
coincidence there is a village of 'Chalgrave' only
i mile from Toddington in Beds.
11 Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 156.
INDUSTRIES
For over a century, beginning from the latter
part of the 1 3th century, when bell-founders in
London begin to be recognizable, they were
almost always styled ' Potter,' or by the Latin
equivalent 0//ariui.™ Patter was a common
name in Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire from
at least as early as 1213, and its very natural
corruption Porter appears from 1275. In the
Visitation of Bucks., by Wm. Harley, claren-
ceux king at arms, 1566, the arms of a John
Porter of Barton Hartshorn, who married about
the first half of the 1 4th century, are given as
* sa. 3 Bells ar.' ll This certainly seems a likely
coat to be borne by the descendant of a bell-
founder, although a local bell-founder would
hardly have had a coat of arms.
In the History, etc., of the Prebendal Church,
ttc., of Thame (Oxon.) by the late Rev. F. G.
Lee (1883), are many quotations from the oldest
known volume of Churchwardens' Accounts of
that parish.11* Among them a bell-founder named
Thomas Swadling is mentioned, who was em-
ployed there in 1450. No hint is given as to
his locality, but if he was a veritable founder
he was probably ' local.' Under 1465 'A man
from Ewelme ' (Oxon.) was perhaps a bell-hanger
or carpenter, rather than a founder. Dr. Lee
states that 'The Powells, or Ap Powells, of
Buckingham, had been likewise employed at
Thame, as early as the year 1503.' In the
same accounts for 1548 ' Richarde Hylton'
purchased the great bell and three little hand-
bells, but that is no reason why he need have
been a bell-founder.
Beginning in December 1552, the name of
John Appowell appears frequently in the Records
of the Borough Court of Buckingham. In July
1556, he is first described therein as 'Bel-
founder.'
In the Churchwardens' Accounts of Wing
(Buckinghamshire) for 1556, is: —
If payde for ou' coftp at buckyngam
when we made bargayne for
the bell xxjV.
II payde for oure coltf at )>" caftynge
of the bell iiij/. \d.
If payd to the bell founder . . iiij/7. viij/. \yl.
Other items follow proving the existence of a
bell-foundry in Buckingham at the above date,
" Ch. Bells of Bucks. 8 and 17.
"MS. B.M. 5181, fol. 80, and three other
copies, in one of which, No. 5867 (printed 1883),
the tincture of the field is given as Gules.
lu This exceptionally interesting volume was pre-
sented to the library of the Bucks. Archit. and
Arch. Soc., during the 'fifties of last century, but
had disappeared. Long search ultimately resulted in
discovering it at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, to
which it had been sold for £20 ! It was eventually
recovered by the exertions of the late Messrs. J.
Parker and E. J. Payne, and the present writer ; but
several years too late for references to be included in
the Cb. Belli of Bucks.
but mentioning no name ; but in the following
year's account, 1557, comes : —
If payde to John appowell for the
bell ........ iijA vj/. viijV.
According to the above Borough Records, he
seems to have been continually before the court,
sometimes as plaintiff*, sometimes as defendant, in
actions to recover very small debts.14 He was
Bailiff of Buckingham in 1559—60.
In the Thame Churchwardens' Accounts for
the year ending Ascensiontide, 1560, is : —
Ifm payd to John Appowell for Makyngc
of Certayne Iren about the bells . . . iijV.
and in the following year's account is : —
Itm pd to John Appowell for xv
finale barrf of Iren for the
west wyndow in the Churche. iij/. \d.
It seems very probable that the founder may
have had a contemporary namesake, who was a
blacksmith, and lived at Thame.
In the Visitation of Buckinghamshire, by Wil-
liam Harley in 1566, already referred to, John
Appowell is mentioned among the ' Burgefses
and late Baylifrs.'
In the Thame Churchwardens' Accounts for
the year ending Ascensiontide, 1567, is : —
Payd to John Appowell of Buck-
ingnm the bellfoundre for
Caftinge of the bell . . . xliij/.
with confirmatory entries in the same and two
following years.
In 1569 John Appowell served the office of
Bailiff of Buckingham for the second time, and
in 1572 he was churchwarden.
In the Churchwardens' Accounts of Shillington,
in Bedfordshire,1' for the year 1575, the foundry
is proved to have been in existence : —
Payd when they went to buckyng-
ham when they went w' the
great bell ....
and a few lines further on : —
[George Edwards] He laid forthe
at buckingham when they
went w' y* bell .....
xxijV.
ij/. iiijV.
with various other entries concerning the trans-
action, but no mention of the founder's name.
John Appowell was Bailiff of Buckingham for
the third time in the year beginning i May
1576. His death is recorded in the Bucking-
ham Register, thus: —
1577 Johes Appowel grosj et Ballivus Bucking
fepultz 0 good friday bonus dies veneris.
14 Detailed in Cb. Bells of Bucks. 175 et »eq.
" North, Ch. Belli of BeJs. 1 86.
119
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
His second son George succeeded to the bell-
founding business, but died in October of the
following year (1578). He had married in
February, and his young widow evidently only
survived him a few days. The wills of both
John and George are given in extenso in Church
Bells of Bucks., and many other details con-
cerning the family, including mention of several
persons of the same surname living at Thame,
and glimpses of founders of the same (or very
similar) name working in London. Probably
two generations of John Appowell appear in the
Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence's,
Reading, from 1516, and one or two other un-
important points combine to make it likely that
John Appowell came from Reading, and had
learnt his trade at the old-established foundry
there. No bells can be with certainty assigned
to him, though it is probable that bells bearing
a portion of the alphabet, or a string of letters
of which the interpretation, if one existed, is
lost, in one or other of two sets of lettering
or a mixture of both, may be the produce
of this foundry. They are at Croughton
(Northamptonshire), Twyford, Ickford, Em-
was closed, or whether another Appowell or some
one else whose name has not come to light
carried it on during the next few years, is un-
known; but before long two young men who had
learnt the craft in the celebrated Leicester foun-
dry settled at Buckingham, and soon got together
a good business. On 7 February 15 80 Thomas
Newcombe II of the Leicester Foundry was
buried at that town, leaving three sons and a
daughter, and also an apprentice named Bar-
tholomew Atton, ' Tanner and Bellfounder ' (like
his master), who was admitted to the Merchants'
Gild of Leicester in 1582-3. Robert New-
combe, the eldest of Thomas's children, and
Bartholomew Atton, evidently realizing that
other members of the Newcombe family had the
entire trade at Leicester, migrated to Buckingham
as partners, and set up for themselves. The Wing
Churchwardens' Accounts for 1586 show that a
bell was cast for that parish at Buckingham,
some time apparently between June and No-
vember 1585, but the name of the founder is
not mentioned. At Passenham, Northampton-
shire, but only 6£ miles from Buckingham, is a
bell inscribed in the large florid letters associated
Lr
FIG. i
mington (Oxfordshire), Hulcott, Bloxham (Ox-
fordshire), Little Brickhill, Tadley (Hampshire),
Milcombe (Oxfordshire),16 and doubtfully a few
others. One of the sets of lettering is no doubt
much older than John Appowell, and the initials
of the original owner are R.K.
The following 16th-century bells in neigh-
bouring counties want founders, and are probably
' locals ' : — The treble at Finmere (Oxfordshire),
4 miles from Buckingham, and with the same
lettering the treble at Midgham (Berkshire), 1 1
miles south-west of Reading ; the saunce at
Streatley (Berkshire), 10 miles from Reading;
also the second at Aston Tirrold, and the third
at Padworth ; the last two (both in Berkshire)
have the same lettering.
The oldest dated bell in Buckinghamshire is
the single at Horsenden, bearing four illegible
letters, ornamented, but apparently completely
worn out (fig. i), and the date 1582, in ex-
tremely distinct evenly-formed figures. It is
probably of ' local ' manufacture.
What happened to the Buckingham foundry
on the death of George Appowell, whether it
16 Rubbing kindly lent by Mr. A. D. Tyssen, D.C.L.
subsequently with the Buckingham foundry
exclusively : —
+ A + TRVSTY + FRENDE + YS + HARDE
+ TO + FYNDE + 1585 + +++++
and at Hoggeston (about 9 miles from Bucking-
ham) is a bell similarly inscribed, except that
being smaller there was not room in a single line
for the whole inscription, so the last word was
omitted, the inscription ending with TO and the
date, the latter for the same reason is stamped
(as to its first three figures) above the final orna-
ment, and the unit is indistinct, and may possi-
bly be 3 instead of 5. This inscription points
to the partnership, and the lettering came from
Leicester, so there is no reason to doubt that
these partners began work at Buckingham not
later than 1585.
At Seaton, Rutland,17 is an undated bell in-
scribed in the same lettering, but all set back-
wards : —
+ RYECHARDE BENETLYE
BELLFOVNDDER
17 North, Ch. Bells of Rutland, and his Ch. Bells of
Northants.
120
INDUSTRIES
As this is in the neighbourhood of Leicester, and
as the name appears in the registers of Leicester,
but not in those of Buckingham, Richard
Bentley was evidently founding at the former
town, whether on his own account, or as an
assistant. A Richard Bentley was married at
All Saints* in that town in 1571, and four chil-
dren of presumably the same Richard Bentley
were christened there between 1577 and 1585.'*
Further proof of the origin of Bartholomew
Alton is afforded by two bells,1' one at Treding-
ton, Worcestershire, inscribed in ornate capitals
I in. high : —
+ BARTELMEW ATON ^cB?
preceded and followed by a cross and crown,
which are known marks of the Newcombe Foun-
dry ; the other bell is at Baddesley Clinton,
Warwickshire, and is inscribed in the same let-
tering, with Thomas Newcombe's shield.
In the Churchwardens' Accounts of Wing for
the year ended 14 June 1590 is the earliest
documentary evidence of Bartholomew Alton
founding bells at Buckingham : —
pd vnto Bartholomewe Alton of Buck-
yngam for the caftyng of the
fecund bell W pultyng in ij C I xfi.
weyghl of new mcttell more then
the old bell weyghed
As some of the entries referring to this trans-
action precede the charge for ringing on St.
Hugh's Day, Alton must have been at work in
Buckingham before November 1589. At Hard-
wick the tenor, dated 1590, is inscribed
ROBART MEWCOME MADE ME
with an ornate cross, and ihe shield (fig. 2) ;
in the same year, the tenor at Loughton, and
ihe treble at Stoke Hammond have the other
Fie. 2
"In the Trans. Leici. Archil, and Arch. Soe. viii, 173
(1896), is recorded the will of a Richard Bentley, of
Sharnford, 1582, who was therefore probably not the
father of the above children.
" Ex inform. Mr. H. B. Walters, F.S.A.
partner's name, which continues regularly from
that year to appear on bells. Robert Newcombe
was buried according to the Buckingham Parish
Register on 2 February 1591-2.
In 1598 and iwo following years, Bartholo-
mew's name appears several times among the lists
of burgesses in the court rolls already mentioned.
In 1605 he was Bailiff of Buckingham. A bell
at Great Horwood dated that year is inscribed in
lettering (togeiher wilh an ornameni) belonging
to this foundry : — B A R A. A Robert Atlon
was chamberlain of ihe borough of Leicesler in
'592-3, but judging by ascertained dates it seems
likely thai he was father lo Bartholomew, and lhal
Robert ihe bell-founder whoappears from ihis date
was a son of Bartholomew. The Baptismal
Regisier of Buckingham is missing from May
1589 lo March 1592-3, during which interval
some of Bartholomew's children were probably
born ; and Robert may either have been among
ihe number, or he may have been baptized
before his parents left Leicester.
Two leaves* from the Churchwardens' Ac-
counts of Woodford Halse, Northanls, were
found loose in an old book purchased al a sale al
Byfield ; one of ihem dated 1609-10 enumer-
ates certain expenses of a deputaiion who
personally attended ihe casling of a bell : —
Imprimis payed for ihe earring of the
Bell unto Buckingham .... vu.
It. payed for alle when the Bell ware a
melting viijV.
It. payed for alle when the Belle ware
a running vjV.
It. payed for the Berriying of the Bell-
founder xj/.
It. payed for ale when the Bell ware a
taking up out of the mold . . . vjV.
It. payed Bell money unto the Bell-
founders men iij/. iiijd.
It. payed for a Band making that wee
did take of the Bellfounder . . . vjV.
It. payed for the casting of the Bell . . liij/. iiijd.
It. payyed for mettill for ihe Bell . . xlvij/. iijd.
It. payed for our charis in our dial in
ling Bockingame ziij/.
As ihe negalive evidence of ihe Regislers
goes to show that no Buckingham bell-founder
died just when the deputation from Woodford
Halse were seeing their bell recast, it may be
that ' burying of the bell-founder ' is a slang
term meaning a big drink on ihe occasion."
" Transcribed in Northanti. N. and Q. (vol. i,
Northampton, 1886).
" ' Burying a wife ' is a feast given by an apprentice
at the expiration of his articles (Halliwell, Diet, of
Archaic and Provl. Words). In the above quotation
'earring' is not an accidental mis-spelling, but the
Buckinghamshire pronunciation of the word to the
present day (and no doubt the Bedfordshire as well) ;
a ' Band ' is of course a Bond, or Agreement ;
'charis' probably means chargfs, or possibly shares;
and ' ling ' no doubt wants a mark of abbreviation,
and means leaving, .
121 l6
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
There are, however, certain changes in the
lettering used on bells from this year, and the
arabesque (fig. 3) makes its appearance ; and the
fact of Bartholomew's name appearing on a few
bells of later date, may merely be an early in-
stance of the common modern trade practice of re-
taining a man's name in the title of the firm for
years after his death. This was almost certainly
done in the case of Robert, a few years later.
A bell at Chellington, Bedfordshire, has : —
ROBERT n ATTOH n MADE n MEE a 1611 a
W ATTOM a
This is the only
bell known to
bear the name 23
of W. Atton,
whose baptism
seems to be re-
corded by the fol-
lowing entry in
the Buckingham
Register: — '1596
September Wm.
films Bartholomei
Atton decimo
die.'
He probably
discarded bell-
founding in favour
of a draper's busi-
ness, and served
the office of Bailiff
of Buckingham
four times, dying
in October 1655.
Of his two sons
who survived in-
fancy one was cer-
tainly, and the
other with little
doubt, a draper,
neither having
any connexion with bell-founding.
Bartholomew's name is reported23 on a bell
at Paulerspury, Northamptonshire, dated 1613 ;
on one at Kidlington, Oxfordshire, dated
1621 ; 24 on one at Passenham, Northampton-
Fic. 3
shire, dated 1624 ; and on one formerly at
Blisworth, Northamptonshire, dated 1626. All
of these (except perhaps the Kidlington bell),
have also Robert's initials, who continued bell-
founding until 1628, in which year the Buck-
ingham Register records that he was buried on
6 May. Robert had a son and namesake, but
the subsequent history of the business leaves
hardly any doubt that the entry refers to the
elder of the name.
Dated this year is the fourth bell at Grand-
borough, inscribed : —
ROBERT ATTON NATHANIEL BOLTTER
and ornamented by stamps already used by the
Attons, and a new running pattern (fig. 4),
which forms a connecting link between this
foundry and the Bagleys, as mentioned a little
further on.25
There was formerly a similarly dated and
inscribed bell at Harpole, Northamptonshire, but
the devices are not recorded.26
Bolter was evidently not a native of Bucking-
ham. In the registers of All Saints', Leices-
ter, is an entry of the burial of a William Bolther
in 1594-5. Between 1654 and 1664 there was
a Nathaniel Bolter at the Salisbury bell-foundry,
and a Jonathan Bolter there in 1656.
A bell at Great Horwood and another at
Tingewick, dated 1623, are inscribed in one of
the Atton sets of letters, ornamented with one
of their roses : —
PRAYSE YE THE LORDE ALWAYSE
The same inscription, with the rose again,
but wanting the last word, is on the third bell
at Grandborough ; and a bell at Edgcote, and
another at Paulerspury, both in Northampton-
shire, have the full inscription again, but the
lettering and ornaments are not stated.27 This
inscription on five bells in the same year, and
on no other known bell from this foundry,
suggests that some one besides Robert Atton
had a hand in their casting, neither his name
or initials being on any of them. On the
Great Horwood bell are, in addition, the initials
FIG. 4.
" Mr. North, in Bells of Beds, mentions a bell " The saunce at Chipping Norton, Oxon. by R.P.
inscribed w. ATTON & SON. but this is shown in Bells 162^., hi> this running pittern (Ex inform. Mr. H. B.
of Bucks (p. 208) to be an abso'.ute illusion. Walters, F.S.A.).
M North, Bells of Northants. " North, Bills of Northnnts.
" Ex Inform. Mr. A. D. Tyssen, D.C.L. " Ibid.
122
INDUSTRIES
(neither pair arc the rector's) : — I B , G V , R B.
It certainly seems probable that the first and last
pair belong to Jonathan and another Bolter.
The initials N B appear on four bells at Salis-
foundry at Drayton Parslow, his native village,
only a dozen miles from Buckingham, where we
may conjecture he learnt the art. Richard was
baptized in 1601 -2 ; and there is a bell at
FIG. 5
bury, in conjunction with W P (William
Purdue II, of Salisbury), in 1656, and on two
bells at Great Durnford, Wiltshire, dated the
following year.**
The arabesque (fig. 5) is on a bell at Tinge-
wick by Robert Alton in 1627.
In 1630, the Buckingham Register records
the burial of Bartholomew Alton on 29 May,
and it is most probable thai ihis was the bell-
founder from Leicester.
No bell is known to have been cast at this
foundry between 1628 and 1631, in which
year the treble at Loughton announces that
ROBERT ATTON MADE ME, and the fourth
at OIney, for the first and only time, gives his
address:— ROBERT ATTON OF BVCKING-
HAM MADE ME, and with other ornaments
already used has a new shield charged with three
bells (fig. 6).
1633 saw the founding of the last two bells
at Buckingham, the treble at Ashendon bearing
Robert's initials, and the tenor at Beachampton,
inscribed like the Loughton bell of two years
previously.
It is extremely likely that Henry Bagley I,
who opened his foundry at Chalcombe in North-
amptonshire, in or before 1632, learnt his
business at the Buckingham foundry, and ob-
tained thence the running pattern (fig. 4)
noticed on the bell at Grandborough dated
1628, bearing Nathaniel Bolter's name. Mr.
H. B. Walters has found a copy of the shield
first used at Loughton in 1631 (fig. 6), having
the initials I M added in the field on either
side of the upper bell, used by a Worcester
founder, John Martin (or possibly two of the
same name), between the years i644-93.w
By 1636, Richard Chandler, son of Anthony
Chandler a blacksmith, had established a bell-
" Lukis, Ch. Bells.
" 'The Ch. Bells of Worc«.' Worci. Dioc. Arcblt.
and Arch. S«r. Rep. 1901 (Reprint, p. 36), and 'Some
Note* on Worcs. Bell-founders,' Arch. Journ. btiii,
'93
Thornton, with nothing but the date 1635,
which may be by him, although none of the
figures certainly correspond with his known set.
RICHARD CHAMDELER 1636 together with
four little ornaments, was on bells at Grand-
borough (now melted), and Stcwkley (Bucks),
Nettleden (Herts, formerly Bucks.), and Milton
Bryant (Beds.), the last only bearing two out of
the four little ornaments. The Nettleden bell in
addition has an interesting survival in the shape
of the later of the two lion-head stamps which
belonged to the Wokingham-Reading foundry,
and was apparently last used not later than
1540. Only one other bell by Richard is
known — the tenor at Cheddington dated 1638,
where the name is inscribed twice over, and
only two of the four little ornaments were
used.
Richard Chandler died in June of that year,
Fie. 6
123
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
and his will 30 was proved by his widow Bridget
on the 22nd of the following November. His
eldest son Anthony was baptized in August
1622, and was, therefore, probably not sixteen
at the time of his father's death. Very likely
he kept the smithy going with the help of a
journeyman, but the bell-foundry appears to have
ceased until 1650, when he cast the treble at
Simpson (recently melted), which was quite a
curiosity ! It was hardly of greater diameter at
the lip than at the shoulder, while the waist,
about half-way between crown and lip, was of
considerably less diameter. It was inscribed, as
were most of his bells, CHAMDLER MADE ME
with no Christian name or initial, followed by
the pattern (fig. 7). Orders at once came to
him in steady succession.
Meanwhile there were certainly two Richard
Chandlers connected with the business besides
the first of the name who died in 1638 as
above mentioned.
figures may have been pressed on the ' cope ' in
readiness for the new year (though then not be-
ginning until 25 March) before his death. Two
bells, however, respectively dated 1 71 1 and
1715, inscribed actually on the waist, maybe
considered as antagonistic to the theory. A few
bells dated 1651, 1654, anc' apparently others
in i684,81 on which the name appears as
CHAHDELER without Christian name, may
also perhaps indicate his workmanship. How-
ever this may be with regard to Richard
Chandler II, his nephew and namesake, Richard
III, the eldest son of Anthony, who was baptized
15 December 1650, evidently became partner
with his father on completing his twenty-first
year, from which time Anthony distinguished the
bells he cast by the addition of his Christian
name. His will33 is dated 28 August 1679, and
was proved on 2 1 April following, so an entry of
burial of an Anthony on i September 1679
evidently refers to the founder, though three
Fie. 7
FIG. 8
In 1675 the name of Richard Chandler be-
gins again on bells, and this seems to have been
Anthony's elder son, whom we may call
Richard III. The second Richard seems to
have been Anthony's younger brother, and never
to have had the honour of inscribing his name on
a bell, but his work is possibly recognizable by
the expedient of the inscription (either the sur-
name only, or with Richard prefixed) being
placed on a few bells somewhat lower down than
usual, generally on a line with, and taking the
place of portions of, the ' rims ' ; so that it reads
thus : —
ICHAUDLER:
IMADE:
:ME:
He was buried I January 1704-5, and
though the latest bell inscribed in that position
(the tenor at Wavendon) is dated 1705, this does
not necessarily invalidate the theory, as the
M Given at length in Ch. Bells of Bucks.
other Anthonies are recorded as buried subse-
quently at Drayton.
In 1 68 1 Anthony's second son George began
placing his name on bells. His baptism is re-
corded on 3 March 1654. After 1683 his
name disappears for the long interval of nineteen
years, unless Lipscomb ** is correct in saying that
he cast the former tenor at Wing in 1687, which
was unfortunately exchanged in 1863. Begin-
ning in 1683, while some bells bear Richard's
name, numerous others bear merely the surname
(as in Anthony's time), which Mr. Stahlschmidt34
suggested represent the work of ' the firm ' as
opposed to a particular individual.
The pattern, fig. 8, was used by ' the firm '
on the saunce at Beachampton in 1695, and by
Richard at Bicester (Oxon.) in 1715.
31 Ch. Bells ofNorthants. at Stoke Bruerne.
" Given at length, Ch. Bells of Bucks. 228.
33 Hist, of Bucks, iii, 527.
34 Bells of Herts. 49.
I24
INDUSTRIES
There is no evidence of a second George
Chandler blossoming into a bell-founder by 1 702,
when the name reappears on bells : and it seems
quite a reasonable conjecture that it was found
that the two Richards (nephew and uncle) were
sufficient to manage the bell-founding, and that
George either devoted himself to the smithy, or
may have migrated elsewhere in pursuit of work ;
and that some time after his uncle had passed his
threescore and ten years it was found advisable
to get the assistance of a younger man.
1723 is the latest date on which the name of
Richard III appears on a bell, and the saunce at
Emmington, in Oxfordshire, is inscribed in one
of George's sets of lettering, so there is no
question of its foundry : T. C. 1723. This must
be attributed to Thomas, the younger brother of
Richard III and George, who thus made his
first and last appearance.
The third at Stone, by ' the firm,' in one of
George's sets of lettering, in 1726, is the latest
known bell bearing the name Chandler ; Richard
was buried on 27 April of that year, three years
after the appearance of his last bell. George
probably then left the village, as his burial does
not appear in the register of his native parish, nor
in that of the neighbouring parish of Stewkley,
where several entries of this surname occur.
Thomas (younger brother of Richard III and
George), was buried in his native parish in 1732.
The Drayton Parslow foundry was continued
by Edward Hall, who had in all probability been
previously working there. He may have been
the son of a Henry Hall of Stewkley, but nothing
is known about his previous history. The burial
of his wife Elizabeth is recorded on Christmas
Day, 1733-4 according to one register, or
1734-5 according to another one; and on
30 April 1741 he married Mary the widowed
daughter of Richard Chandler II. His business,
owing no doubt to the gradual concentration of
this trade in the large businesses of London and
other centres, as roads improved, was evidently
very small — less than one bell a year so far as
is known ; and at last comes the entry in the
Drayton Parslow register (in the rector's hand-
writing) : —
(Buried) Edward Hall poor old Bellfounder
Feb. 9 1755.
There was until recently at Hillcsden a bell
inscribed : —
W HALL MADE ME 1756
This is the last bell known to have been cast
at this foundry. The individual is not men-
tioned in the register of the parish, but probably
he was a son of Edward, born before his father's
migration to the foundry.
The late Rev. T. A. Turner mentions " being
" Records of Buckt. ir, 125 (1872).
told by an old man named Baldwin that he in
early life succeeded in the village smithy business
a William Hall, who it was suggested was a
grandson of Edward, but it seems as likely
that he belonged to a generation later — that is a
grandson of the founder William. Baldwin had
met with various bits of bell-metal, metal cast-
ings, sand and other things, which William Hall
had told him his grandfather used in the bell-
foundry business.**
The saunce at Westbury seems to be of the
time of Edward III, and as Westbury is only
5 miles from Buckingham, this bell should
apparently be added to the group above described.
The bell in the clock tower at Aylesbury is
blank, but is undoubtedly an old bell, and is
probably the bell mentioned in a report at the
Record Office dated 1555 as having come from
the house of Friars of Aylesbury, and was then
used as the market bell of that town.17 It is
probably of ' local ' origin.
The two bells at Ibstone are probably of the
1 8th century, and are more likely to be by an
itinerant than by a strictly ' local ' founder.
On the single bell at Fingest is incised : —
J. HOBBS LANE END 1830.
He was an iron-founder, and this appears to be
his sole attempt at bell-casting. His son, Mr.
Walter Hobbs, continued the iron-foundry until
his death in 1902, when the business was pur-
chased by Mr. Richard Smith, who afterwards
closed the works, which, however, have now
been re-opened.
The Fingest bell, no doubt from a want of
technical knowledge having resulted in a wrong
gradation in the various degrees of thickness,
sounds at a distance as if it were cracked, but as
one approaches it is found that the bell is quite
sound, but is badly out of tune with itself. If
the crooks used to form the core and cope are
scientifically shaped, so as to ensure the correct
thicknesses throughout the bell, it should give,
when lightly struck, the key-note, third, fifth,
and octave at the respective distances up the side;
and when struck a full blow (as by the clapper)
on the sound-bow, the common chord results ;
if therefore the thickness at any part is incorrect,
the bell becomes out of tune with itself (and
many bells are slightly so).
The saunce at Hardwick, besides the names
of the churchwardens, bears : —
1850. S. SEYMOUR, AYLESBURY
He was an ironmonger in that town, and there
can be little doubt that he did not cast it
himself.
" Cb. Belli ofButkt. 237.
" Ld. Rev. Rec. bdle. 1392, file 10.
125
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
IRON-FOUNDRIES, SHIPBUILDING AND
RAILWAY WORKS
In 1772 Wyrardisbury mill was tenanted by
Jukes Colson, who worked it as an iron mill, but
five years later it had been turned into a copper
mill by the Gnoll Company.1 The mill was again
sold in 1790, and was tenanted early in the
i gth century by George and Thomas Glascott,
who were brass-founders. They, however, closed
their works in 1820, and the mill has since been
converted into a paper-mill. A mill at Horton
was also at one time used for iron works, but
these were closed early in the igth century.2
In 1831 only eleven men were returned as being
employed as iron-founders,3 either as masters or
workmen, but thirty-four were employed at
copper mills. In the middle of the i gth cen-
tury several foundries were established. The
Castle Iron Works were started at Buckingham
in 1857, and were owned by a limited liability
company, the shareholders being mostly local
people,4 anxious to improve the trade of the
town. The foundry was chiefly occupied in
making steam-engines of various kinds. Certain
road engines were made there which acquired a
considerable amount of importance at the time.
In 1858 a road locomotive was built for the
Marquis of Stafford, which attained to the speed
of twelve miles an hour, and a few years later
the foundry produced a steam carriage for export
to Belgium, which held three passengers as
well as the stoker. It averaged ten miles an
hour, but on good roads could attain to sixteen,
and its inventor, Mr. Thomas Rickett, the
manager of the Castle Iron Works, drove it in
1860 to Windsor, where it was inspected by
Queen Victoria.6 Various machines for agri-
cultural purposes were also made, a locomotive
steam cultivator being exhibited at a meeting of
the Royal Agricultural Society at Chester in
1858.
Another engineering business, known as the
Watling Works, was started at Stony Stratford
about the same time as the Castle Iron Works
at Buckingham. The position of the little town
on the Grand Junction Canal gave it better
means of communication, and the business is
still carried on at the present day.6 In 1845 tne
late Mr. Edward Hayes started the works for
general engineering, but gradually the business
has become confined to the building of steam
1 Gyll, Hist. ofWraysbury, 72.
1 Ibid. 198.
* Pop. Ret. (1831), i, 34.
4 Sheahan, Hist, and Topog. of Bucks, 231—2.
6 lllus. Lond. News, n Feb. 1860, with illustration.
6 From information kindly supplied by Mr. Edward
Hayes.
126
yachts, tugs and launches. These are exported
to all parts of the world ' for steamers and
machinery of various descriptions have been
built for the British Admiralty, Crown Agents
for the Colonies, the Board of Works, Trinity
House Pilots, the Shah of Persia, the Sultan of
Morocco,' besides various foreign governments
and well-known shipping lines. ' During the
late South African War a little steamer destined
to work in connexion with the landing of troops
and stores actually steamed from the place she
was launched, the Old Stratford Wharf, which
is a branch of the Watling Works, along the
Grand Junction Canal to the Thames and thence
to Delagoa Bay, South Africa.' In Stony Strat-
ford it is not an unusual sight ' to see one of
these steamers being drawn on large eight-wheel
trolleys by a powerful traction engine ' from the
Watling Works, where they are built, to the
wharf half a mile away, and often followed by
its engine and boiler on separate trolleys. In
1 86 1 a display was given at the works of a
patent steam windlass for which Mr. Hayes had
obtained high honours at an exhibition at Leeds,
and the firm have since been equally successful
at later exhibitions. The steamers originally
built for the river-side work of the Metropolitan
Fire Brigade came from the Watling Works,
and the present Mr. Edward Hayes has taken
out numerous patents for improving steamers,
one of the most recent being ' for cheapening
and facilitating the exportation of small steamers
abroad, making it possible to erect steamers at
the site of their work and where only unskilled
native labour can be obtained.' Other iron and
brass-foundries are worked at the present day at
Maidenhead, Horton, Chalfont St. Giles, Looseley
Row, Chesham, and Walton (Aylesbury).
At Slough there is also a large firm of manu-
facturing ironmongers and engineering contractors
whose business was established in i8l5-7
The Wolverton works, belonging to the Lon-
don and North Western Railway, give employment
to a large number of people in the neighbour-
hood and date from the earliest days of the
railway.8 When it was opened in 1 838 as the
London and Birmingham Railway the works
were started for building engines, and were
purely locomotive works until 1865. At that
time Wolverton Station was of great importance,
all trains stopping there, and descriptions of its
magnificence figure largely in accounts of the
' Letter from Messrs. Mark Duffield & Sons, Ltd.
High Street, Slough.
8 Description of the London and North Western
Railway Company's Carriage Works at Wolverton, 1 907.
INDUSTRIES
county written in the middle of the I gth century.
Around the station and works sprang up two
new villages, New Bradwell and New Wolver-
ton, inhabited entirely by the employees of the
railway and tradesmen supplying their needs.
In 1840 about four hundred hands were em-
ployed, but in the next twenty years the numbers
had increased to between 2,300 and 2,400 and
the factory contained brass and iron-foundries,
shops for erecting, repairing, and fitting engines,
and for making boilers, &c.*
In 1 860, however, a change was decided upon
resulting in the conversion of the Wolverton
works into carriage works,10 and the removal of
the engine factories to Crewe. The removal
took place between 1865 and 1877 and since
that time the works have grown beyond recog-
nition, and contain shops for building carriages
and all their accessories and also for repairing
them, covering in all about eighty acres of land
and employing about four thousand five hundred
hands.
NEEDLE-MAKING
The village of Long Crendon was long
celebrated for an extensive manufactory of
needles. There is considerable doubt as to the
date of the introduction of needle-making into
England, the tradition being that an ' Indian '
first brought the art to London about 1545, but
that it died out with him.1 It must, however,
shortly have been revived, for it seems to have
been brought to Long Crendon about 1560 by
one Christopher Greening.* In some accounts,
a Mr. Damer, a member of a Roman Catholic
family, is said to have settled the Greenin:; family
in the village in 1650,' but this is most prob-
ably merely a confusion in the date, since the
Greenings had then lived there for nearly a hun-
dred years.
A Christopher Greening lived at Long Cren-
don in 1558* ; from 1556 to 1568 he was also
churchwarden and drew up, with John Padnoll,
the first parish register book preserved there.'
Another Christopher, the son of John Greening,
was born in 1587,' and against his name is a
later marginal note saying, ' this man first brought
out needle-making.7 ' Probably he was the grand-
son of the first needle-maker, but having the same
Christian name, later tradition confused the two
Christopher Greenings.
Other accounts say that needles were made in
the village before Greening's arrival, but that he
was of some importance in the trade and hence
its introduction was attributed to him.8
The chief family of needle-makers were the
Shiimptons, many of whom lived in the neigh-
bourhood of High Wycombe and were officers
of the borough.' In the i8th century the trade
was flourishing. When a sufficient quantity of
* Sheahan, Hist, and Topog. of Bucks. 647.
10 Carriage Works at Wolverton.
1 Home Counties Mag. vi, 184.
' Ibid.
* Chambers1 Journ. 17 May 1856.
' Lay Subs. R. ,%.
5 Home Counties Mag. vi, 185.
1 Ibid. ' Ibid.
" W. Shrimpton, Notes an a Decayed Needle-land,
9-27. • Ibid.
needles had been made, a journey to London
was undertaken by one of the more important
manufacturers. He took from seven to ten days,
going by the stage-coach from Oxford. The
goods had been first conveyed to Tetsworth,
where the coach was met and the needle-maker
was accompanied by armed men for his protection.
This was more especially needed on the return
journey, when he bought back a considerable
sum of money for the wages of the workmen.
A stock of wire was also brought back, part
payment for the needles often being made in
wire, which was difficult to procure direct from
Birmingham. In 1736, the needles were chiefly
made in the living rooms of the workers, but
later factories were built, one of which is still
standing in the village of Long Crendon.10
At the beginning of the igth century the
chief manufacturers bore the names of Harris,
Shrimpton and Johnson.11 The processes em-
ployed were extremely primitive ; everything
was done by hand labour, no stamps were used,
and the methods of pointing made that part of
the trade at least very injurious to the health of
needle-makers. The fame of Redditch needles
was beginning to grow and the Long Crendon
manufacturers felt the pressure of competition
in the market. They seem to have taken no
steps, however, to meet it or to improve their
methods. They never employed the water-
power at Notley Mill and were very late in
introducing machinery of any kind. In some
ways the position of Redditch gave it an
advantage over Long Crendon, particularly from
being near Birmingham, but the Shrimptons
had many opportunities of improving their
trade, of which they never took advantage.
London merchants offered money so that new
machinery might be set up and the workshops
improved, but the Crendon manufacturers had
been so long without encountering competition
that they were utterly unprepared to meet the
new conditions of the industry. They seem to
" Home Counties Mag. vi, 1 84.
" Shrimpton, Notes on a Decayed Needle-land, 14.
127
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
have given far more attention to all the pastimes
of the countryside, bull-baiting, cock-fighting
and boxing, than to their business. Hence the
Long Crendon needle-trade gradually died out
and the trade in sewing needles was practically
lost.
Several makers made a speciality of large
needles, however ; sail and packing and netting
needles were made in considerable quantities, and
a revival of the trade took place about 1848.
A John Harris had set up for himself and was
more energetic in business than others ; machinery
was also introduced by him and some of the
Shrimptons. A London firm, Kirby Beard & Co.,
started a factory at Crendon, where they had
long been customers of the needle-makers. The
lack of railway communication, however, proved
fatal to their undertaking, and in 1862 they
moved to Redditch, taking with them four-fifths
of the needle-makers. Almost immediately
afterwards the railway was opened to Thame,
but it was too late to affect the manufacture at
Long Crendon, and even the trade of large
needles was obtained by the Redditch makers.
Emigration had, however, been going on slowly
for many years; as early as 1824, Jonas
Shrimpton journeyed to Alcester, Studley, and
Redditch to observe the state of the manufacture
there. He advised the Crendon makers to
bestir themselves, but nothing, as has been said,
was done, and some of the younger men
migrated in the next few years. Even in 1861,
while Kirby Beard & Go's, factory was still open,
the population of the village was declining, the
cause being migration of the needle-makers to
seek work in other parts of the country.12
TEXTILE INDUSTRIES
A considerable amount of wool was grown
in Buckinghamshire as early as the I3th cen-
tury and consequently many men were engaged
in the wool trade. The wool grown by the
monks at Biddlesden, Ankerwyke, and Notley is
mentioned by Pegolotti.1 Buckingham was a
staple town for wool in the time of Edward III,
till the staple was removed to Calais. It was
then amongst the towns which petitioned Parlia-
ment in 1525 for relief, their trade having been
destroyed.1* In the xyth century Buckingham
still seems to have been a centre of the trade, and
possessed both a wool hall and wool market, the
profits belonging to Christ's Hospital, founded by
Queen Elizabeth.2 In 1731, these profits only
amounted to ^5 a year.3 A wool fair was also
held at Great Marlow, but it fell into disuse in
the first half of the i gth century.
Wool merchants in the i6th century were,
however, sternly repressed, no individual being
allowed to buy more wool than he could weave
himself. In 1577 the ' broggers' of wool were
bound over in £100 apiece, 'that neither they
nor their heirs shall at any time hereafter buy or
bargain any manner of wools that grow or
hath grown within the county of Buckingham,
but only such quantity of wools as they by
themselves or their apprentices shall yearly make
in his own mansion house.' * The cloth trade
never assumed very large proportions in the
county, but a certain amount of weaving and
fulling was done, presumably for local use.
11 Pop. Ret. 1 86 1.
1 Cunningham, The Growth of Engl. Indus, and
Commerce, i, 629.
la Browne Willis, Hist, and Antiq. of the Town, Hund.
and Deanery of Buckingham (1755), 46.
1 Ibid. 86. " Ibid.
4 S.P. Dom. Eliz. cxv, 28.
Early in the I4th century the governing body
of the borough of Wycombe tried to attract the
trade to their town by remitting a tax on looms.6
The effort seems to have been successful, and the
records of the borough contain many orders with
regard to weaving, fulling and dyeing.8 These
trades were gradually limited to the burgesses of
the borough, foreigners being forbidden to carry
them on without making a heavy payment.
Even amongst the town craftsmen there were
strict rules for their government.7 Besides ap-
prenticeship rules, no one man might carry on
more than one of the three trades at the same
time.8 Early in the I7th century foreign
craftsmen paid 6d. for every loom working, but
how often the fine was to be paid was not
specified. The increasing strictness of these
orders was probably due to the failing condition
of the cloth trade. In 1623 this was commented
on by the Justices of the Peace and the Mayor
of Wycombe 9 and the poor in the town suffered
a great deal of misery.
The fullers seem to have suffered even earlier
from the loss of their trade. Various fulling
mills are mentioned in accounts of the bailiffs of
manors in the I4th and I5th centuries,10 but in
the following century, for instance, at Taplow,
when the mills were rebuilt in the reign of
Henry VIII, certain old fulling-mill stock was
found. Many years later a witness, in an inquisi-
tion taken in 1613 about these mills, suggested
that the name of an eyot or island in the Thames
called ' Tenter Eight ' took its name from the
Ibid.
6 Wycombe Borough Records.
• Ibid. 7 Ibid.
9 S.P. Dom. Jas. I, cxlii, 44.
10 Mins. Accts. bdle. 761, no. 4 ; bdle 763, no. 9 ;
bdle. 653, no. 10565 ; bdle. 654, no. 10577 >
bdle. 655, no. 10597.
128
INDUSTRIES
tentering of cloth.11 Moreover, at Newport
Pagnell a fulling-mill had existed at one time,
but it had been converted into a grist mill before
1623. Weaving was still a trade of the town,
since George Fynnall, a weaver, gave evidence
about the mills at that date.u At High
Wycombe a fulling-mill, known as Gosham's
mill, was working at this time, and was in the
hands of a family of the name of Raunce.13
Buckinghamshire sheep and rams were famous
throughout the I7th century, but more for their
size than their wool,14 and the local cloth trade
seems to have gradually disappeared. Sacking
was also manufactured in the ijth century.
The paupers in the workhouse at Aylesbury 1§
were mainly employed in spinning hemp. Their
yarn was either sold or sent to the weavers, and
afterwards the overseers of the poor sold the
manufactured article." Sacking was probably
made throughout the i8th century, but in
1831," only forty men were employed in
making mats and sacking.
Silk-weaving was carried on in Buckingham-
shire for some years during the igth century.
A large mill was established at Tring in 1824 by
Mr. William Kaye of Tring Park.18 It was first
worked by Mr. Joseph Kaye, but he afterwards
moved to Manchester. On his death the Lan-
cashire factory was given up and his manager
RobertNixon was thus thrown out of employment.
He determined to set up a silk-mill at Aylesbury
in connexion with the Tring mill and further,
made an agreement with the Aylesbury overseers,
who were in great need of employment for the
parish paupers in the workhouse. The numbers
there were rapidly increasing, and the decline of
the lace trade left the overseers with no means of
giving them work. The latter undertook to
build a silk factory on part of the workhouse
" Exch. Dep. by Com. East. 10 Jas. I, no. 14.
" Exch. Spec. Com. no. 3596.
11 Chan. Inq. p.m. (S«r. 2), ccclxxxvi, no. 100.
14 Fuller, Worthies of England (ed. Nuttall), 193.
'* Aylcsbury Overseers' Acct w Ibid.
17 Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34.
" Gibbs, Hiit, of AyUsburj, 624.
premises in Oxford Road, and to spend £200 on
it, Nixon promising on his part not to employ
any hands but paupers chargeable on Aylesbury
parish. Forty looms were set up in 1830, but
probably women were employed for the most
part, since in 1831 " there were only 30 male
silk weavers in the county. The mill afterwards
passed into the hands of Messrs. Evans, who had
for many years worked the Tring mill.10
They first bought part of the workhouse premises
in 1844, and in 1859, the original parish mill.
Soon afterwards 2OO hands, mostly girls, were
employed, and steam-power had been introduced.
In 1885 there were 70 steam looms at the Ayles-
bury mill. The actual weaving was the only
process carried on there, none of the earlier pro-
cesses being undertaken.
Branches of the Tring and Aylesbury mill were
set up near the latter town. At Waddesdon a
mill was established in 1843. It stood in the
middle of the village, and in 1862 employed some
40 women, but only hand-looms were used. A
smaller mill was also worked at Whitchurch.11
Silk was manufactured at Wyrardisbury mill n
about the time that the Aylesbury mill was estab-
lished, while silk and shawl printing was carried on
at the neighbouring town of Horton. The latter
works were in the hands of Messrs. Tippets & Co.,
who employed about 60 persons, but in 1859 a
decline of trade made them close their works, and
the buildings and stock were sold by auction.
Cotton mills also existed in Buckinghamshire.^
the close of the i8th century. At Iver and Tap-
low visitors were appointed by the justices of the
peace in 1802 under an Act of 42 Geo III to
inspect the cotton mills there.88 At Amersham
another cotton factory was working in 1825 ; I4 it
employed many of the inhabitants but no cotton
weavers are returned in the census of 1831."
"Pop. Ret. 1831, i, 34.
" Gibbs, Hut. of Aylesburj, 624.
" Sheahan, Hist, and Tofog. of Bucks. 429, 772.
n Gyll, Hut. ofWrajsbury, 72, 198.
** Quarter Sessions Records, 1802.
" Pinnock, Hist, and Tofog. of Engl. i, 25.
» Pop. Ret. 1831,1,34.
129
'7
FORESTRY
I
authentic history of the woods of
Buckinghamshire ' may be said to
begin with the Domesday Survey,
in which the general distribution of
woods throughout the county is
strikingly manifested. In this county the com-
missioners estimated the extent of the woodlands
by certifying how many swine could be sus-
tained ori its acorns and beech mast, and it
is quite obvious from these returns that con-
siderable woods were to be found in every
direction. Taking the larger woods, which were
sufficiently extensive to support 500 swine or
upwards, we find they run as follows : — Wen-
dover, 2,OOO ; Chesham, 1,600 ; Lillingstone,
1,200 ; Marlow and Princes Risborough, 1,000
each ; Oakley, 806 ; Marsworth and Iver, 800
each ; Taplow, 700 ; Chalfont St. Peter, Burn-
ham, Farnham, and Chalfont St. Giles, 600 each ;
and Wraysbury, High Wycombe, Stoke Poges,
Missenden, and Hampden, 500 each. These
places are to be found north, south, east, and
west, and in the centre of the county. The
swine-feeding powers of the woods throughout
Domesday are almost invariably expressed in round
numbers. There is however a curious exception
to the rule in this county. The woodland of
Akeley is said to have found sustenance for 806
swine (octingentis porch et vj) ; such an entry as
this is a corroboration of the theory that the
extant Domesday is a condensed summary of the
actual returns, and that the original detailed
return has in this case been accidentally retained.
There are two references to the royal forest of
Bernwood. Brill (Erunhelle\ on the confines of
Oxfordshire, is named as a manor of King
Edward's; under this manor jCi2 is entered as
the annual issue of the forest. Oakley was in
the same forest, and it is entered that the wood-
land would feed 200 swine, 'save that it is the
king's park in which it lies.'
At Long Crendon, adjoining Oakley and
Brill, Walter Giffard had a park for beasts of
venery (parcus bestiarum silvaticarum\ which is a
truer forest translation than beasts of the chase.
1 Camden considered that the very name Buckingham
meant the beechen village, owing to the number and
•ize of its beech trees, from boccen or buecen, derived
from bat, a beech tree. Although this derivation has
been doubted by Lysons and Lipscombe, its accuracy
is still maintained by several modern etymologists.
The four beasts of venery, the hart, wolf, wild
boar, and hare, were sy/vestres, that is, they spent
their days in the woods, and were taken by what
was considered true hunting, being tracked or
roused by the lymers and lymer hounds (corre-
sponding to the modern tufters of the Devon
and Somerset Staghounds), and afterwards pur-
sued by the pack. The beasts of the chase were
termed campestres, that is, they were found in the
open country by day and therefore required none
of the niceties of tracking and harbouring in
thicket and coverts, but were roused straight away
by the hounds ; these were the fallow and roe
deer, with the fox and martin.*
So far as Buckinghamshire was concerned with
royal forests the position was distinctly peculiar.
The shire had no large forest of its own entirely
within its bounds, but it shared portions of four
distinct forests with adjacent counties, namely
Windsor, Whittlewood, Salcey, and Bernwood.
The smallest of these shares was that of
Windsor in the south of the county. Parts of
the parishes of Datchet, Langley Marish, Slough,
and Eton, on the Bucks side of the Thames,
immediately opposite Windsor and the present
Home Park, were for many generations considered
part of Windsor Forest. At the present day
293 acres of meadow and other land in Datchet,
abutting on the Thames, are Crown lands, as well
as upwards of 2OO acres at Eton.
The forest of Whittlewood lay chiefly in
Northamptonshire, but a considerable section
overlapped into the north-western district of
Buckinghamshire, including the parishes of Lil-
lingstone Lovell, Lillingstone Dayrell, and parts
of Biddlesden, Akeley, and Stowe. All that
remained of Whittlewood Forest in this county
in 1792 was 220 acres in Lillingstone Dayrell,
which was included in Wakefield Walk. It was
not until August 4, 1853, that the much-re-
stricted area of old Whittlewood Forest ceased
to exist. On that day An Act far Disafforesting
the Forest of JVhittltwood became law ; the deer
were destroyed or removed, and the forest officers
discharged.
Salcey, another of the royal forests of North-
amptonshire, in the south-east of that county,
1 Cox, Royal Foreiti, 61—3. ManwooJ, so continu-
ously cited by writers on old hunting, has strangely
blundered in his misleading lists as to legal beasts of
the forest and the chase.
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
also protruded into Buckinghamshire, extending
in old days over the whole of the parish of
Hanslope as well as in the adjacent parts. Han-
slope gave its name to one of the walks of this
old forest. In 1825 An Act for Dividing, Allot-
ting and Inclosing the Forest of Salcey, in the
Counties of Northampton and Buckingham, was
passed.
The fourth of the Buckinghamshire forests,
that of Bernwood, was by far the most important
so far as this county was concerned. Bernwood
Forest stretched out far into Oxfordshire, em-
bracing the subsidiary forest stretches of Shotover
and Stowood, and approaching almost to the very
walls of Oxford by way of Headington. But
the larger section of Bernwood Forest as well as
the centre of its government was always in
Buckinghamshire. In that county the consider-
able projection, about the centre of the western
border, which included the parishes of Boarstall,
Brill, Oakley, Worminghall, Long Crendon,
Ashendon, Chilton, Dorton, Ludgershall, and
Wotton Underwood, were always within Bern-
wood Forest ; whilst for a long time it extended
much further north to the Claydons, as well as
further to the centre or east. Its exact boundaries
cannot readily be determined, they fluctuated
much at different periods, some of the old
perambulations are difficult to decipher, and the
identification of several of the places named as
bounds is peculiarly difficult.
The earlier Norman kings added largely to the
area of Bernwood Forest on the Buckingham-
shire side, until a considerable section of the
county was subject to the severity of the forest
laws. By the Forest Charter granted at the
opening of the reign of Henry III, it was pro-
vided that all forests which Henry II had af-
forested should be viewed by good and lawful
men, and that all that had been made forest,
other than royal demesne, since his coronation,
was forthwith to be disafforested. In accordance
with this charter special perambulations were
ordered to be made by not less than twelve
knights elected for that purpose before March,
1224-5.
There seems to have been some special delay
in the case of Buckinghamshire, or else disputes
caused the perambulations to be ere long repeated ;
for there is a verdict of twenty-four knights
extant of 1228 de metis foreste in Com. Buc.
This perambulation, starting from a ford over the
Thame, went as far north as Steeple Claydon, and
much was stated to have never before been con-
. sidered forest. On the back of this small docu-
ment appear the names of the twenty-four
knights, including Robert Fitzalan, Walter de
Fulebrot, Ralph Fitzjohn and Ralph de Lang-
port.4
There is also extant at the Record Office a
4 Misc. Chan. Forest Proc. bdle. 1 1, file I, Nos. 14,
15. These documents are in part illegible.
perambulation of the year 1298, which was
undertaken in the presence of John FitzNeal,
the chief forester or warden, of four foresters, of
four verderers, of two elected knights, and of two
Crown commissioners. The following is a careful
English rendering of this perambulation, but it is
difficult to follow. The stream called the Yhyst
may be identical with the one now called the
Ray, which crossed into Oxfordshire to the west
of Grendon Underwood : —
Imprimis to wit at a certain stream which is called
Yhyst and therefrom going up towards Hethenaburgh
and so to Stodfolddem and so from thence to Pedyngton
[Piddington] moore and so stretching to a certain place
called le Dedequene beyond the lord King's wood,
[Kingswood] and so going up through Lotegershale
[Ludgershall] Hay between the wood of the King's
demesne and Lotegershele Wood as far as Colleputtes
And so from thence to the Brechs and so from thence
going down to the stream to Brechehurne And so to
Coppedhegge and then proceeding outside the haye to
Todeleshall corner And from thence between the
King's wood and the wood of Richard Grenoile de
Wotton to Siketon as far as Colhurch on the east
And so proceeding by the aforesaid wood to War-
borughwell Books (?) And from thence to Tremeren
and so to Wolvesthorpe and so to Dreyhurst And
from thence through the stream to Phippenhoohurne
and so to Aylyenewellesture and from thence to
Whithorn and so across the Quareinte which is called
Burnegrove to Brehull [Brill] forks And from thence
to Morlesmede and so to Aysshegh without the mes-
suage of Walter de Byllyndon And so direct through
Alkedonemersh to Apcrofte and thence by the Porte-
weye to Stamford And so between Wormenhael
[Worminghall] Field to le Wykehouse And from
thence to Gulpesmede And so by the ridge of
Delefield to le Spanne And so to Stonyhurstend
And so from thence to Honybrugge and from thence
to Stonyhurstende and from thence to Hildesle and
from thence to Ffoulesle and then to Okelyngoke
through the stream to Waterfall in Smythedene And
from thence to South Wellredy And thence to
Southwell and thence to Halsadetonge and so to
Gashale and then to Grymes dich and so to Stony-
crouch and thence to Merlakebrugge And so always
by the bounds in the counties of Bucks and Oxon to
the aforesaid stream of Yhyst.'
It has been supposed that the name Bernwood
had relation to Bernulph, the successor of
Kenulph and grandson of King Offa, but this,
as Lipscombe remarks, is mere conjecture.
There is, however, no doubt that it was an
extensive and well-wooded forest tract that per-
tained to the Saxon monarchy for a long time
previous to the Norman Conquest. Brill, which
was within the confines of Buckinghamshire,
was a royal manor of importance in Saxon times,
and said to have been an occasional residence of
the Confessor. A royal precept of Henry I
(1109-11) relative to the canons of Gloucester
is dated from Brill.6
5 Exch. Accts. Forest Proc. K.R. bdle. i, No. 8.
6 Royal Chart. Duchy of Lane. No. z.
132
FORESTRY
The place is mentioned in grants of Stephen
and Matilda, and we know from charters that
Henry II was sojourning here in 1160, 1162,
and 1177. King John was at Brill on
23 October, 1205, and also kept the following
Christmas at the same royal seat.7 Henry III
stayed here in 1224 and on several occasions
afterwards ; and Edward I was at Brill yearly
from 1273 to I28i, and again in 1293.*
The Pipe Rolls of 1 169-70 record £31 4*. ^d.
from the wastes, assarts, and pleas of the forest
of Buckinghamshire, but in the following year
only 57*. icd. In 1172-3 the amount was
551. Sd. Only a mark was entered for the
forest in 1173-4 and 1174-5, and but half a
mark in 1176-7.* The very large amount
entered in 1169-70 probably arose from the
Pleas of the Forest before justices being held
in that year.
In the first year of Richard I the sheriff of
Buckinghamshire was indebted in the sum of
24*. (>d. for the wastes, assarts, pleas, and pur-
prestures of the forest of Buckinghamshire.
Mention is made at the same time of Ralph the
forester.10
By the forest of Buckinghamshire, in these
Pipe Roll entries, is evidently meant the Buck-
inghamshire division of Bernwood Forest, which
was usually described in the thirteenth century
as the forest of Brill.
In considering the question of the administra-
tion of the ancient royal forests of Buckingham-
shire, however briefly, it seems essential to
recollect that the use of the term ' forest ' as
applicable to a great wood is a comparatively
modern custom. Such a use came into fairly
general adoption in Elizabethan days, but origin-
ally and for several centuries the English word
* forest ' meant a waste tract of country reserved
for royal sport, and hence placed under special
laws and restrictions. Within the forest of
Bernwood or Brill there were many great woods
and thickets of undergrowth, far more, doubt-
less, than would be formed on such forests as
Dartmoor, Exmoor, or the High Peak, but there
would certainly be a considerable share of open
ground and heaths. Within this area, although
there would be a good deal of private property,
all such inclosures as were of sufficient height to
exclude the deer, did they desire to enter, were
forbidden, save under special licence. The
owners of woods that were in private hands
were bound to appoint woodwards, who were
to a great extent foresters of the king, for they
were sworn to arrest venison trespassers. Though
the owners of such woods could usually take
freely all wood they might require for their own
use, they could not fell to any considerable
' Lipscombe, Bueks, \, 97-8.
* Close and Pat. R. passim.
1 Pipe K. Hen. II (Pipe R. Soc.).
" Magn. Rot. Pip. 35, 37.
extent, or sell wood, or burn charcoal, or do any-
thing that might be prejudicial to the king's
deer, without a licence.
The administration of a forest was partly
national and partly local. From time to time,
often at prolonged intervals, forest justices of the
crown came round to hold Pleas of the Forest
for inquiring into privilege claims, for exacting
fines for assarts and purprestures (the terms for
illegal inclosures or encroachments), and for
punishing trespasses against venison and vert.
Vert was a term for which the English form
of ' green hue ' was occasionally used, implying
all damage to trees, underwood, and forest
herbage. Local courts were also held at regular
and frequent intervals, when the minor vert
offences were dealt with, including illicit agist-
ment or feeding of cattle or pigs, and stray
animals ; and venison trespasses were enrolled,
and the commitment of offenders to prison oc-
casionally arranged. Over these local swain-
mote or attachment courts, the crown-appointed
warden or chief forester presided, with the
verdcrers (usually four in number) as assessors.
These were men of position elected in the
county court; they had no fees, but were entitled
to certain perquisites both of vert and venison.
The foresters were those who had charge over
different sections or walks of the forest, and it
was their duty to present offenders at the courts,
and also under certain circumstances they were
expected instantly to arrest venison trespassers or
hunters and to convey them to prison. The
delinquents could, however, generally obtain
liberty without much difficulty on sufficient
bail from either the particular justice of the
forest or direct from the crown. They were
bound over to appear before the next eyre of the
justices of Forest Pleas ; but the delay was so
great in holding these eyres that not a few
offenders were usually dead before their case
came to trial. By the Forest Charter no one
could for any forest offence be imprisoned for
more than a year and a day.11
Robert de Drewes was entrusted with the
charge of the royal manor of Brill, at pleasure,
in 1217, together with the forest pertaining to
the manor."
When the great storm of 1222 occurred
which devastated the woods throughout England
and caused the usual customs as to windfallen
timber in royal forests to be held in abeyance,
instructions as to the disposal of the cablish were
forwarded to the vcrderers and foresters of the
11 It feems best to give this summary of forest pro-
cedure to help towards the understanding of some of
the extracts here cited ; those who desire to gain a
better understanding of the various processes and the
intricacy of administration are referred to Turner,
Select Pitas oftke Foreit (Selden Soc.), or to the more
popular Cox, Royal Forests.
11 Pat. 2 Hen. Ill, m. II.
'33
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
forest of Brehull (Brill). The long list of forest
officials to whom like communications were
made does not include any other reference to
Buckinghamshire.13
In 1219 the crown ordered general inquisi-
tions to be held throughout England as to the
assarts or inclosures that had been made within
royal forests. These orders for Buckingham-
shire were addressed to the sheriff, verderers, and
foresters, who were to meet at Buckingham ;
the crown named four inquisitors, Simon de
Litlinton, Walter de la Haye, Miles Neirnut,
and Richard de Stokes, and with them was
associated Hugh de Baton as clerk.14
The sheriff of Buckinghamshire received the
royal mandate, in 1229, to issue summons for
a regard of the forests of the county, and to see
to the election of regarders in the place of those
who had died or were infirm, so that there
might be the full complement of twelve in each
regard. For the same year Brian de Insula was
appointed justice of the forest for Buckingham-
shire and several other shires.16
Another order for holding a regard was issued
in 1235, to prepare for the coming of the justice
of the forest. The foresters were to swear to
bring twelve knights elected in their bailiwick
to view every kind of trespass, as expressed in
the chapters of the Regard.16
Ranulf Brito, in 1229, obtained letters patent
authorizing him to hunt for life with his dogs
the hare and the fox, without any interference
whatsoever from foresters or their servants,
through the whole royal forest in the bailiwick
of Hugh de Neville, in the counties of
Buckingham and Northampton.17
William son of Walter de Bruhull was
pardoned by the king, in 1232, for the trespass
of skinning a deer that he found dead in this
forest ; Peter de Rivallis received orders to
release him from prison.18
In 1234 John de Neville, the bailiff of the
forests between the bridges of Stamford and
Oxford, was ordered by the king to kill, salt,
and make bacon of the pannage pigs of Brill
and other forests of Huntingdonshire and North-
amptonshire, and to take ward of it for the king's
use.19
Various royal gifts out of the forest of Brill
are entered on the Close Rolls of Henry III.
Thus in 1228 William de Wurdie, servant of
Walter de Clifford, was permitted to take forty
cartloads of dry brushwood out of the forest of
11 Pat. 7 Hen. Ill, m. 6.
14 Ibid. 3 Hen. Ill, m. 4 d.
16 Ibid, i 3 Hen. Ill, m. 2, 9 d. As to regarders, and
the full and independent reports they were expected
to draw up every year, see Cox, Royal Forests, IO,
1 1 , &c.
16 Pat. 19 Hen. Ill, m. n d.
ir Close, 14 Hen. Ill, m. 20.
18 Ibid. 1 8 Hen. Ill, m. 3.
19 Ibid. 1 8 Hen. Ill, m. 4.
Brill, for Walter's hearth. In the same year
King John's grant to the canons of Nutley to
use two carts, at pleasure, fetching fuel wood
from Bernwood Forest, was renewed by Henry
III and again confirmed in I23O.20 The Friars
Minor of Oxford received a royal gift from this
forest, in January, 1231, of thirteen leafless
oaks.21 Later in the same year Walter de
Clifford obtained a considerable gift of building
timber from the same forest.22
The brethren of the hospital of St. John-
without-Oxford obtained five oaks from Brill
Forest, together with another five from Shotover
Forest, in February, 1232, for the building of
their hospital, and in July of the same year ten
tie-beams for the hospital chapel to be taken
wherever they were most suitable from either
of these forests.23 In 1234 the abbot of Oseney
was granted twenty oaks from Brill towards the
building of his church, and the lepers of Walling-
ford an oak for making shingles to roof their
chapel.24
Peter de Rivallis, as warden of the forest, was
ordered in 1233 to provide the honest men of
Oxford with 100 Brill oaks, to be taken where
they would be least missed, for building the
turrets of the walls round the city of Oxford,
and for making planks for the same.25
In the following year there is a particularly
interesting entry on the Close Rolls relative to
the timber of this forest. John de Neville
received the royal mandate to supply the iacrist
of Abingdon Abbey with four oaks for making a
certain cross.86
Royal gifts of venison were not infrequent.
In 1229 Hugh de Neville, forest justice, was
ordered to allow Drogo de Trubleville a buck
out of Brill Forest and like gifts to Philippa, the
wife of William de Symilly, Drogo's niece, and
to Thomas Basset.''7 In September of the same
year, the king sent Alan de Neville and Roger
de Stopham, with their running dogs, to hunt
fallow deer in Brill Forest, and instructed
John de la Hoes, the forester, to sanction
them.28 Later in the same year Thomas Basset
received three does out of this forest, and Gilbert
Marshall four does.29 In 1230 a royal gift was
made to Hugh de Plesset of two does,30 and in
1231 two bucks were given to Robert de
Curtenay.31 In the following year John the
Fool and Philip his companion, royal huntsmen,
10 Close, 1 2 Hen. Ill, m. 6.
"Ibid. 15 Hen. Ill, m. 19.
" Ibid.
13 Ibid. 16 Hen. Ill, mm. 14, 7.
"Ibid. 17 Hen. Ill, mm. 8, 7.
"Ibid. 17 Hen. Ill, m. 2.
16 Ibid. 1 8 Hen. Ill, m. 10.
"Ibid. 13 Hen. Ill, mm. 10, 6.
* Ibid. m. 4.
Ibid. 14 Hen. Ill, pt. i, mm. 23, 22.
29
30 Ibid. m. 13.
"Ibid. 15 Hen. Ill, m. 12.
FORESTRY
were dispatched to Brill Forest to take with
their dogs two or three red deer, against the
coming of the king to Woodstock,1* while in
September, 1233, Roger de Quincy was granted
ten live bucks and does from this forest towards
stocking his park at Chinnor.*1
Pleas of the Forest for the county of Bucking-
ham were held at Buckingham on Monday after the
feast of St. Mark, 1 255, before William le Bretun
and three other justices. These pleas were partly
concerned with trespasses committed in the
small section of the Northamptonshire forest of
Whittlewood that came over the border into
Buckinghamshire, but more especially with the
Buckinghamshire division of Bernwood Forest,
usually known as the forest of Brill. Con-
sequently the eyre had to be attended by both sets
of forest ministers.84
One of the cases of presentment from Whittle-
wood Forest involved the question of the cruel
custom ofexpeditating or lawing the dogs within
a forest area, so as to hinder them from chasing
the deer. By the forest law of Henry II this
mutilation was only done to mastiffs, but it
gradually came about that it was applied to all
dogs. The Forest Charter laid down that a
view of the lawing of dogs in the forest was to
be held every third year, and a fine of 31. paid
for each found unlawed. This lawing consisted
in cutting off the three claws of the forefoot,
leaving only the ball. The right to have un-
lawed dogs within a forest was occasionally
granted by the crown to persons of position.
Thus, the bishop of London, the dean and chap-
ter of St. Paul's, and the canons of Waltham
held grants exempting their house dogs in Essex
Forest ; whilst the earl of Arundel and other lay-
men had complete exemption. Two mastiffs
belonging to Simon de Pateshull were found in a
wood at Heyburne, belonging to Simon, worrying
a brocket (a hart of the second year) which had
been wounded in the right haunch. He was
charged at the eyre not only with this offence,
but with the unlawed condition of his mastiffs.
Simon, however, was able to put in a chartered
exemption from dog-lawing, but he was fined
two marks for the conduct of his mastiffs.
Some of the cases considered at this eyre went
back as far as 1 248. Three delinquents were
charged with having hunted in that year in the
wood of Stockholt, in Whittlewood Forest, with
bows and arrows, and with resisting the riding
foresters who sought to attach them. In the
same year, Alexander, chaplain of Wotton, and
two men with him who escaped and whose
names were unknown, committed a forest offence
in Bernwood. When the justices in eyre came
round, seven years later, Alexander, who was on
bail, was dead ; a return had to be made of his chat-
" Close, 1 6 Hen. Ill, mm. I 5, 7, 6.
a Ibid. 17 Hen. Ill, mm. 1 1, 9, 3.
14 Exch. Accti. Forest Proc. T.R. 251.
tels, which were only worth lit. yl.t with
an unvalued burse containing relics. Amongst
other interesting cases may be mentioned that of
Hugh de Molond in 1249, who was found going
out of the forest with a bow, which he handed
to his brother Richard. The foresters found at
his house a bow and four barbed arrows. Hugh
and Richard were both imprisoned and bailed ;
the justices fined the former a mark and the
latter half a mark.
At this Buckingham eyre it was stated that
John Durant, woodward of Roger de Wotton of
his wood of Stockholt, had been presented by
his lord before Robert Basset, the steward of the
forest ; and afterwards presented by his lord
before Edward de Bosco, forest justice, at Selves-
ton. William Curtis, woodward of Simon de
Sancto Licio for his part of the wood of West-
bury, had been presented by his lord before the
forest steward, and afterwards presented and
sworn before Hugh of Goldingham, the forest
justice. Walter de Clanfield, woodward of
James le Savage for his part of the wood of
Westbury, had also been presented and sworn in
like manner.*4
In 1266 an inquisition was held at Hartley,
in Bernwood Forest, as to the bailiwick of John,
the son of Neal, which he held in that forest
by hereditary right (forester in fee of Boarstall), as
the king wished to be certified as to his rights and
customs and services. The jury testified that he
held by hereditary right the bailiwick from Stony-
ford as far as a certain water called the Burne,
running between Steeple Claydon and Padbury ;
that he had rights of cheminage or way-leave,
of after-pannage, of all rents, of dead woods and
of the loppings and roots of all trees given or
sold or taken for his own use by the king. Two
other rights are sufficiently interesting to be set
forth as Englished by Mr. Turner : —
He has and he ought of hereditary right to have
throughout the aforesaid bailiwick trees felled by the
wind, which is called cablish, and that in the form
underwritten, to wit, that if the wind fells ten trees
in one night and one day, the lord king will have
them all ; but if the wind fells less than ten tree* in
one night and one day, the aforesaid John will have
them all.
Also this same John has of right all attachments
and issues of attachments made of small thorns, to
wit, of such a thorn as cannot be perforated by an
auger (tarrera) which is called ' Restnauegar.'
The meaning of this last clause is that the
undergrowth of small thorns was John's per-
quisite, and that the question of what was small
and what was large was tested by whether the
thorn stem was sufficiently large to be pierced by
a standard auger.
The last clause of the verdict of this inquest
was to the effect that John had to guard this
u See Turner, Select Pleat of tbt Foreit (Selden
Soc.), Ixviii.
'35
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
forest bailiwick (that is to find and pay the under-
forester) in return for these privileges and also to
make an annual payment to the king of 4Cw.36
In 1280 there was an inquisition as to a night
trespass in Bernwood Forest, Buckinghamshire,
when the foresters took and imprisoned a com-
pany of thirteen. The foresters swore that one
of the number, Robert Cripelard, was engaged
in placing a snare, formed of a single cord ; but
the jury held that Robert was not culpable.37
In connexion with the Forest Pleas for Buck-
inghamshire, lists were drawn up in 1286 and
1287 of quittance of the common summons.
Among those whose presence at the eyres was
thus excused by the crown, although free tenants
or holding privileges within the royal forests of
the county, were the abbess of Godstow, the
abbess of Barking, the bishop of Coventry and
Lichfield, the priors of Merton and La Grave,
the abbot ofOseney, the prior general of St. John
of Jerusalem, the master of the hospital of St.
John-without-Oxford, and the earls of Cornwall,
Hereford, and Surrey.38
The prison for trespassers in the whole forest
of Bernwood was at Brill. In February, 1277,
John Fitzneal, the warden of the forest, was
ordered to deliver Peter le Provost and his son
John, imprisoned at Brill for forest trespass, in
bail to twelve men pledged to deliver him before
the justices of Forest Pleas when next they came
to those parts. In the following May the same
warden received a like mandate from the crown
to release in a similar manner Hugh Magot and
his son Humphrey from imprisonment at Brill.'9
In 1292 Elias de Hauvill, steward of Bern-
wood Forest, received the crown mandate to
release on bail, from the prison at Brill, William
de Boyton and seven others, all confined there
for forest trespasses.40
In the same year Aumary de St. Amando,
king's yeoman, obtained licence by letters patent
to hunt the fox, hare, badger, and cat, with his
own dogs, throughout the forests of Bucking-
hamshire, except during the fence month, so
that he did not take great game or course in
warrens.41
Occasionally in the forests of this county, as
elsewhere, trespassers obtained immediate pardon
from the crown. Thus, in 1294, the justices
next in eyre for Forest Pleas in the county
of Buckingham received royal orders not to
molest James de la Plaunche for the trespass he
was said to have committed in taking harts and
hinds, as well as bucks and does, in the Bucking-
hamshire portion of Salcey Forest without the
king's licence, as the king had pardoned him the
"Inq. p.m. 50 Hen. Ill, No. 25.
" Misc. Chan. Forest Proc. bdle. n, file 3 (22).
18 Close, 1 4 Edw. I, m. 8 d. ; 15 Edw. I, m. 5 d.
" Ibid. 5 Edw. I, mm. 1 1, 8.
40 Ibid. 20 Edw. I, m. 9.
41 Pat. 20 Edw. I, m. 10.
136
trespass. A like letter was directed to the
justices next in eyre for the county of North-
ampton.42
In October 1297 the sheriff of Buckingham-
shire received the king's mandate to the effect
that he desired the late king's Forest Charter to
be observed inviolable in all its articles, and
he had therefore appointed Adam Gurdon and
William de Mortuo Mari, together with two of
the most discreet of the knights of the county,
to cause a perambulation to be made, in the
presence of the foresters and verderers, to con-
firm the perambulations of the late reign which
had not been disputed. The sheriff was ordered
to summon all the knights of the county to meet
Adam and William, and from their number to
appoint two successors.43
When the perambulation of Whittlewood
Forest was shortly afterwards undertaken, Roger
le Brabazon and Ralph de Hengham took a sore
(a buck of the fourth year) and three does in the
Buckinghamshire part of the forest. Letters
close were, however, addressed by the crown
to the justices next in eyre for Pleas of the
Forest, both of the counties of Buckingham
and Northampton, ordering them not to molest
or aggrieve Roger and Ralph, as they and the
others assigned by the king to make the perambu-
lation took them by his licence in the course of
making the perambulation.44
Soon after the accession of Edward III, the
sheriff of Buckinghamshire was ordered to take
anew in his county court the oaths of the
verderers of Bernwood Forest, who had been
elected in the late king's lifetime, to inquire
into their qualifications and to cause others to
be elected in the place of those who might be
insufficiently qualified.48
An inquisition was held at Brill in 1363,
before William of Wykeham,46 as to the pasture
rights of the tenants of Brill, Boarstall, and
Oakley, when it was held that they had rights
of depasturing their cattle through the whole
forest, save in the haye (or park) of Ixhull,
without molestation except in the fence month.
In the following year an inquisition was held at
Headington, before Peter Atte Wood, deputy of
William of Wykeham, as to the condition of the
whole forest of Bernwood.4'
There is an original inquisition as to the state
of the Buckinghamshire division of Bernwood
Forest at the Public Record Office, held in the
year 1377, with the rows of small imitative seals
" Close, 22 Edw. I, m. 9.
"Ibid. 25 Edw. I, m. 4<£
44 Ibid. 28 Edw. I, m. 4.
45 Ibid. 2 Edw. Ill, m. 27.
16 This was the great William of Wykeham, who
became bishop of Winchester in 1367. His appoint-
ment as warden of Bernwood Forest is not named by
any of his biographers.
" Kennet, Punch. Antij. \\, 146.
FORESTRY
of the jury still pendent on tags of the parch-
ment. But there was nothing to report of any
moment, and it is a mere formal return, seven
lines in length.48
In July, 1489, Forest Pleas were held at
Buckingham before Sir John Ratcliif and Sir
Reginald Gray. There were ninety-seven pre-
sentments, and fines were inflicted varying from
half a mark to loos. The offences included the
killing of several fallow deer, and in two cases of
red deer, also of wholesale game hunting with
bows and arrows and cross-bows (ba/istis ac quarel-
Ki) by a large company chiefly from Notting-
hamshire and other counties. The vert pre-
sentments numbered 117, the fines varying from
one to two shillings ; in seven of these cases an
alibi was established, and nine were excused fines
on the score of poverty. William Rede was
presented for having kept a coppice closed for
seven years which ought to lie open, to the great
hurt of the king's deer. Among those claiming
chartered liberties in the Buckinghamshire forests
were the abbots of Oseney and Nutley, the prior
of Frideswide, the prioress of Studley, and the
provost of Oriel College.4'
The dissolution of the monasteries was, in
Buckinghamshire as elsewhere, sadly disastrous
to the woodlands of the county. In 1541,
commissioners were appointed to regulate the
sales of the coppices of Bundon and Echyllthorn
at Horwood, in Whaddon Chase, late the pro-
perty of St. Al ban's Abbey. At the same time
other commissioners were appointed for the sale of
Honers Wood, late the property of Missenden
Abbey."
The priory of Tickford, Newport Pagnel,
was surrendered to Wolsey in 1525, but on the
cardinal's fall came to the crown, when the
lands surrounding the house were turned into a
deer park.
A certificate was presented by Thomas
Tavener and Robert King, 'prescvators of the
Queenes Majesties woods within her highness
Parkes of Tyckford and Hanslopp,' as to the
felling of woods and trespasses done in the years
1587-8. In January, 1587, there was a sale in
Tickford Park of underwood, when six trees
were taken out of the coppice, valued at £4,
without the leave of the woodward or his
deputy. George Annesley, the park keeper,
was charged with selling forty loads of ' Browse
wood ' (winter food for deer) at 5</. a load,
amounting to the sum of ^10, and also with
damaging the newly-cut coppice by turning into
it horses and colts, and by mowing divers places,
amounting to a loss valued at £13 61. 8</. The
preservators recommended that a sale should
shortly be made, for the benefit of the crown,
of two or three hundred trees, which could well
be spared in Newton Pagnel, the Mersh End,
and Tickford.*1
In the reign of James I Bernwood Forest,
Shotover, and Stowood, were required to furnish
timber for the Royal Navy, and a pretty quarrel
arose between the shipwrights sent to the
forest and the keepers and other officials as to
the proper ownership of certain perquisites, the
chips ' which fall out to be made in the squaring
and sising of the tymber.' These the repre-
sentatives of the Navy claimed as ' a fee and dutie
ever belonging to them in all places where they
have been ymployed in like seruice and never
challenged from them untill nowe.' The keepers,
always keen on making a profit from the sale of
wood, naturally took a different view, and the
matter was referred to London. The authori-
ties, favouring the claim of the shipwrights, Peter
Pett'* and Daniel Duck, decided that they
should not be robbed of what was certainly ' the
proceed of theire owne worke and labour and
yeeldyng no browse for the deere, to give colour
of claime to the kepers,' with the result that a
warrant to this effect was issued to John Denham,
farmer of the forest of Bernwood.*3
A commission was issued in 1623 for the
disafforesting of Bernwood. Sir John Dormer
and the other commissioners allotted to every
freeholder in the forest in the proportion of 10
acres for every 100 acres, as well as 230 acres
for the poor of the district in the counties of
Bucks and Oxon. But a dispute arose as to the
proportions, and a jury was summoned in the
following year to set out the allotments. A bill,
however, was filed in chancery, and judgement
was declared in 1632, whereby the forest tenants
of the two counties obtained the allotment of
577^ acres, leaving 1,397$ acres to the crown.*4
Not only was the forest law in operation, in
however modified a form, in Bernwood Forest
proper until the end of the reign of James I, but
occasional swainmote courts were held outside
its boundaries, as, for example, in Whaddon Chase,
as late as the reign of Henry VIII. The general
history of this chase is indeed of considerable
interest.
The entries in Domesday Book are decisive as
to the well-wooded character of Whaddon and
the neighbouring manors," and at a very early
period Walter Giffard, earl of Buckingham,'*
granted to the priory of St. Faith at Longue-
ville all Horwood, except the fee of Durand,
with tith:s of wood, pannage, fishpool, and all
45 Forest Proc. K.R. bdle. I, No. 9.
" Exch. Accts. Forest Proc. K. R. bdle. I,
M Accts. Exch. bdle. 149, Nos. I, 2.
2
11 Ibid. bdle. 557, No. 13.
" One of the famous family whose history it traced1
in the Ancestor, x, 147.
" S.P. Dom. Jas. I, Ixxx, 54 ; cf. Cal. S.P. Dom.
Jai. I (161 1-18), pp. 85, 125.
M Lipscombe, Bucks, i, 53-4.
- V.C.H. Bucks, i. For the account of Whaddoa
No. 10. Chase Mr. C. H. Vellacott is responsible.
14 Round, Cal. DM. Fratut, 75.
137 18
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
the profits of his wood at Whaddon. And these
privileges and quittances in the wood of Whad-
don, together with all the assarts of the monks
in his wood of Horwood, were confirmed to
them about a century later by William de
Humetis,67 Constable of Normandy, to whom
the manor of Whaddon, detached from the
honour of Giffard, had been granted. As part
of the land of the Normans Whaddon came to
the king's hands in the reign of King John, but
was soon granted to William D'Albini.68 On
the accession of Henry III William Marshall
for a time retained Whaddon, but it was ulti-
mately restored on his death to the earl of
Arundel, passed in natural course to his brother,
Hugh D'Albini, and on his decease in 1241,
since he was the last male heir of the grantee,
again reverted to the crown.
The woodland and wild heath appendent to
the manor of Whaddon were at this time part "
of the royal forest of Buckinghamshire, which
had been extended to cover nearly the whole of
the county. In the year following the death of
Hugh D'Albini the manor of Whaddon with its
woodlands was granted to John Fitz Geoffrey, a
son by his second wife of Geoffrey Fitz Peter,
late earl of Essex.60 The coveted game pre-
serves were now vested in a subject, but as we
learn from an argument 6l in a lawsuit of the
following reign certain incidents of forest law
still remained : —
King Henry granted and gave it to us to hold it as a
chase in the same manner as he held while it was a
royal forest ; and we have three swainmotes yearly
for searching and enquiring whether any one puts
more beasts therein than he ought to put.
There is also ample evidence M that the business
of this court was by no means confined even at
a very much later period to merely regulating
the rights of common.
John Fitz John, son of the grantee of 1242,
seems to have still further enlarged the borders
of the chase by acquiring from the abbot of
St. Albans his hunting-rights in Abbot's Wood
in Little Horwood, lander the reservation that
the abbot should be free to hunt in this wood on
four days in the year, namely, two at Holy Rood
67 Round, Cal. Doc. France, 78.
58 He was remembered there as having granted half
a virgate in almoin to the hermit of Codemor, Hund.
R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 3 3 63, and a meadow at Whad-
don was known in 1318 as the ' Heremitesmede '
(Cart, of Snellshall, B.M. Add. MSS. 37068, fol.
38<31.). In Tudor times one 'walk' or section
of Whaddon Chase bore the name of Codemore
Quarter.
" Year Books 0/21, 22 Edw. I (Rolls Ser.), 622,
et seq.
60 Ibid. ; cf. Plac. De Quo Warr. 94, 95.
61 Tear Books, ut sup. ; cf. Turner, Select Pleas of
ike Forest (Selden Soc.).
65 Ct. R. P.R.O. bdle. 155, No. 29.
Day, and two at Candlemas.63 It is possible
also that the woodland of Great Horwjod
granted to St. Faith's, Longueville, and attached
to its cell, the alien priory of Newton Long-
ville, were also claimed at this time by the lord
of Whaddon as in some sort a parcel of the
chase.64
The importance of Whaddon as a hunting
centre is borne out by certain of the tenures
met with both on it and the adjacent manors.
The custody of the chase of Whaddon was held
in fee by the Giffard family. Early in the reign
of Edward I Robert Giffard is returned 65 as
holding i£ virgates by petty serjeanty ' per quam
custodit silvam domini,' paying 3^. a year and
rendering certain customary services. He has
also housbote and heybote in the lord's wood,
and his beasts (averia) go with his lord's to
pasture ' exceptis parco et prato non falcato.'
Here we have perhaps the earliest mention of
the lord's park as distinct from the chase gener-
ally. Again, in a deed66 of 1318, we hear of
John Giffard, keeper of the chase of Whaddon
(custodi chacie de Whaddon)^ in connexion with a
certain ' placea vasti infra chaciam ' granted and
leased to him by Robert de Montalt and the
Lady Emma his wife, who held the chase in
dower as the widow of Richard67 Fitzjohn.
The right of Giffard to inclose this land saepibus
et baits is conceded by the prior of Snelshall,
who probably had some claim to common therein.
The custody of the chase remained with the
Giffards till the second half of the fifteenth
century, when an heiress carried it in marriage to
Robert Pigott, who is said to have been a York-
shireman and a follower of Queen Margaret.68
Besides the keeper of the chase other tenants69
held land in Whaddon by services in connexion
with its woodland during the thirteenth century,
while one tenement, which early in the reign of
Edward I had escheated to Richard Fitzjohn,
had formerly been enjoyed by Ralf le Appelgart
by the service of holding a leash of greyhounds
when the lord of Whaddon wished to hunt.
Even Sir John Passelewe held half a virgate in
65 Hund. R. ii, 3 3 83.
M Cf. Hund. R. ii, 338, liber am chaciam inHorewood.
In the late fifteenth century this claim was set up by
the lord, but the swainmote juries denied it and
asserted that the Prior's Wood (then belonging to New
College) was purlieu.
"Hund. R. ii, 3 3 6b. This Robert Giffard was
the son of Geoffrey. Both father and son witness a
charter of Paul Peiuere to John, prior of Snelshall,
and his monks, about the middle of the thirteenth
century. B.M. Add. Chart. 53786.
66 Cart, of Snelshall, B.M. Add. MSS. 37068,
fol. 38^.
67 Brother of John Fitzjohn. The reversion was
vested in Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster and lord
of Connaught. Cart, of Snelshall, ut sup. fol. 3 8 a1.
69 Lipscombe, Hist, of Bucks, i, 405.
69 Richard de Admodesham and Hamo le Blake.
138
FORESTRY
Mursley appurtenant to Whaddon by a similar
service to be performed at Winslow bridge.70
There seems to be evidence 71 that John Fitz
John and his brother and successor used their
privileges of chase to the utmost, to the annoy-
ance of their weaker neighbours. The men of
Mursley hundred declared in 1276 that John
Fitzjohn 'appropriavit sibi liberas chacias,'
which may suggest that he was claiming rights
of chase in that part of Shenley known as
Westbury, which in 1086 had belonged to
Richard Engaine. Furthermore, it was sub-
ject of complaint that Robert Giffard, Peter
the Forester, and Robert Stort, bailiffs of Lord
John Fitzjohn, had imprisoned William Popping
and Richard le Noreys, servants of Thierry le
Alemaund, apparently to extort money. At
the very end of the century .Richard Fitzjohn
was fighting a case in the courts arising out of
his seizure of the beasts of Robert FitzNeal in
the Abbot's Wood.7'
From that time until the fifteenth century, in
the absence of the swainmote rolls, we have only
occasional allusions to the chase of Whaddon,
notices of the hereditary keepers the Giffards
and other officers,73 or warrants for the taking
of deer 74 when the chase and park of Whaddon
for any reason was in the king's hands.
Richard, duke of York, to whom Whaddon
and its chase had come with the lands and titles
of the earls of Ulster, fell at Wakefield in 1460.
Cecily his widow survived him, and her dower in
Whaddon was assured by letters patent from
Henry VI, successively confirmed by her sons
Edward IV and Richard III. She died seised of
Whaddon in 1495, but already in the seventh
year of his reign Henry VII had granted the
reversion of the manor and chase to his queen,
Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV and grand-
daughter of the duchess dowager of York.
As already stated, the heiress of the GifFards
had married a Mr. Pigott, a north countryman,
and brought him the hereditary keepcrship of
the chase, which descended to his son Thomas
Pigott, afterwards serjeant-at-law. Mr. Pigott
appears to have been keen in his maintenance of
the rights of his office and the claims of his
mistress in the chase, and met with considerable
opposition from a gentleman of the neighbour-
hood, Thomas Stafford, Esq., of Tattenhoe. It is
possible that during the early fifteenth century,
and still more during the troubled times of the
Wars of the Roses, the chase had not been
strictly guarded, its exact bounds had become
matter of dispute, inclosures and purprestures
" Hand. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 336^.
» Ibid, i, 4z6.
71 Tear Books of 21-22 EJw. I, ut sup.
71 Nich. Knoll, late parkerand surveyor of Whaddon
Chace, Chan. Inq. p.m. 6 Ric. II (103)
" Pat. i Hen. IV, pt. 8, m. 12. Edmund, E.
of March, was at that time an infant.
had been made, and in consequence Mr. Pigott
set himself to find a remedy.
However this may be, in the spring7' of 1494
there was held at Whaddon, in the churchyard,
a ' syttynge ' or court of the forest,7' under the
presidency of Sir Rainold Bray, one of the
justices of the forest south of Trent. Not
only were ' the chief of the counsaile ' with
Sir Rainold, but the Buckinghamshire gentry
mustered in force, ' bjth my Lorde Grey, Sir
Thomas Grene and Mr. Emson and many
mo.' And, proceeds the local account, 'all the
olde men of the comon were then brought in
that al that day by the mynde of Mr. Stafford and
Mr. Pigot which stryved for the chace grownde
and the purlews and for ingrement to be had
there.' About the original chase of Whaddon
proper there was no dispute. When its bounds
had been recited, Sir Rainold Bray required of
the jurors 'what more chace ground there was ?
To whom they answered and said, Thabbotes
grownde is chace in a maner.' He then asked
them ' What maner was that ? ' They answered,
' if the dutie be paid,' and this duty was 7 deer
a year due to the abbot of St. Albans, prt at
midsummer on St. Alban's Day, and part at
Christmas — possibly a commutation of the old
reservation of four days' hunting a year. Its
bounds were then set out.
After this Sir Rainold Bray demanded,' What
is there more of chace grownde ? ' and sugge*ted
that the Prior's Wood 7; should be included. But
the jurors made answer and said ' they had nothinge
therewith to do,' and were similarly recalcitrant
with regard to ' Nycols Wood ' and 'Totnolbare.'78
The justice then passed on to inquire of Abbots
Mede and Pukpit Hill, and the reply that ' it is
the demaine and belonging to Little Horwood *
provoked the exclamation, ' Why, sires, will ye
say that these be not chace growndes ? ' But the
jury stubbornly adhered to their testimony. The
only 'chace growndes' they knew were those
which had been 'evermore usen.' Mr. Empson
was then asked who owned the Prior's Wood.
Mr. Pigott, however, answered, ' New College,
Oxford." But neither the master7* nor his attorney
" Invention of the Cross, 9 Hen. VII.
" For the popular account of this 'syttynge' see
B.M. Add. MS. 37069, fol. 134^ et seq. A late
and rather illegible copy of a swainmote roll for 9
Hen. VII, is extant, and this may be the official record
of the court (B.M. Add. R. 53964). It contains a
good deal of matter besides the recital of the bounds
of the chase.
" The wood formerly belonging to the alien priory
of Newton Longville.
n i.e., Tattenhoe Bare. This was the site of the
•hog-sty' of Thomas Stafford, who apparently was
regarded as the champion of popular rights.
" At a later court, about 1 500, the abbot of St.
Albans, New College, the prior of Snclshall, and Mr.
Stafford were all represented by their attorneys. D. of
Lane. Forest Proc. bdle. 3, No. 24.
»39
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
was present, and the justice decided 'We can do
nothing to there grownde if they have no knoledge
thereof ; we sit here but as voyde for this mater.'
As to the stubborn jury, he continued, ' I daresay
these men ben good and true and a true verdyt
they have brought, houbeit they be not abull
men to shew the kinge.' Therefore he ordered
twelve neighbouring gentlemen to be 'paneld
upon a quest,' who were to bring in their verdict
by St. Bartholomew's Day next. According to
the popular account we have been following,
these gentlemen did not bring in their verdict
nor were ever called so to do. 'So this matter
standyth as it dyd before tyme which have ever
be caled purlew grownde and it is no chace and
never was.' The further business of this court
as set out in what appears to be the official
record 80 need not detain us further — details as to
the deer, offences against customs of common, and
such inclosures and purprestures as the flagrant
instance of Mr. Stafford's ' Hoggesty.'
No other forest court seems to have been held
in Whaddon for several years, but about 1500,"
and probably in the autumn, Mr. Pigott com-
manded 'another courte to be holden at Whaddon '
and the old questions were, in part, thrashed out
anew. He brought forward ' olde evidence,' and
by reason thereof urged the jurors to declare
Mursley Grove and Nicols Wood within the
bounds of the chase. ' We never saw it,' they
answered, ' ne yet our fathers before us, where-
fore we will never gree thereto.' He then offered
to ensure their legal immunity if they consented.
Then made answer John Macke, the foreman of
the quest, ' How will you bare us out if we
fortune to be laid in prison ? ' and his fellows
exclaimed 'all with hole voyce that they would
never agree thereto but as there fathers dyd by
olde tyme. Than he waxed angry and called
them all churles and said, if he lyved, that he
would quit them all there mede.'
Baffled on this point Mr. Pigott asked the
the jurors whether they would direct that
Mr. Stafford's hog-sty should be pulled down by
a certain day. They answered all and said ' They
would not meddle therewith ; there they found it
and there they would leave it.' This answer ex-
hausted the hereditary keeper's patience. He
ordered his clerk to take up the books and left
the court-room. But when Mr. Pigott had reached
the yard he turned again into the house and bade
the steward ' to wryte at chace all that ever was
within the bounds of the diche,' and promised to
bear him out. Further he ordered the steward
80 Assuming that the swainmote of 9 Hen. VII was
the occasion of this ' Syttynge.' Unfortunately in Add.
R. 53964, the portion of the date which would fix
the exact month is illegible.
81 The popular account leaves the date vague. The
time suggested is an inference from indications in D.
of Lane. Forest Proc., bdle. 3, No. 19, if, as is possible,
the presentations there refer to this court.
'lay ^lO upon Mr. Staffbrde's hed ' that his hog-
sty be pulled down by the Michaelmas following.
Part of Mr. Stafford's offence, as appears from the
presentments82 of the foresters in 14-15 Hen. VII,
was his appointment of a swineherd who was not
sworn 'to our Lord the King.' The hog-sty
was situate at Tattenhoe Bare. He had also been
guilty, during the years immediately preceding, of
trespasses against the king's venison, having with
others unknown slain a buck 'apud Snelleshale
quarter' on 18 June, 12 Hen. VII, and similarly
on 20 July, 14 Hen. VII, chased a doe at Salden
Leys outside the bounds of the king's chase of
Whaddon, but actually killed it at the Frith, which
was within the bounds. Mr. Thomas Stafford
was also a keen fox-hunter and ' usualiter de anno
in annum ' entered both park and chase in
pursuit of his quarry. But it is clear that there
was a considerable amount of poaching in the
king's chase during the last years of the fifteenth
century among the neighbouring residents, both
high and low, from Marmaduke Constable, knight,
who killed a ' pricket : at Westwood Hill, on
2O August, 13 Hen. VII, to Henry Chery of Fenny
Stratford, yeoman, who on 26 August, two years
later, entering the king's chase at the Frith,
killed and carried away ' unam damam vocatam
a tegge.' Besides the venison trespasses there
were a number of interesting presentments as to
common rights,83 and a recital of the bounds of
the chase proper which we can merely mention
here.
So unsatisfactory had been Mr. Pigott's ex-
perience of courts in connexion with Whaddon
chase,84 that no other was held in his lifetime.
He died a serjeant-at-law about 1520, leav-
ing his second wife Elizabeth a widow. This
redoubtable lady, who was the eldest coheiress 85
of John Iwardby of Great Missenden, had already
been married to a Northamptonshire squire before
her alliance with Mr. Thomas Pigott. On her
second husband's death she found herself 8e in
possession of the manor of Doddershall, which she
had as her marriage-portion, and besides other pro-
perty held the manor of Whaddon and the custody
of the park and chase for the term of life with
remainder to William Pigott her step-son. The
timber and venison of the park and chase, with the
exception of certain recognized perquisites, were
apparently reserved to Queen Catherine, who had
succeeded her mother-in-law in their enjoyment.
88 D. of Lane. Forest. Proc. (P.R.O.), bdle. 3, No. 19.
83 One complaint was that the warden of New
College, Oxford, had inclosed the common at Prior's
Wood to the extent of twenty acres.
84 None till 1 6 Hen. VIII, according to Add.
MS. 37069. Possibly this is a scribe's mistake for
17 Hen. VIII.
85 Cal. Inq.p. m. Hen. Vll. Nos. 6 and 1080.
86 Cf. Rentals and Surveys (P.R.O.), ptfo. 2, No. 7,
and Chan. Inq. p.m. Ser. 2, 12 Hen. VIII, No. i.
Thomas Pygott.
I40
FORESTRY
In spite of these reservations great waste was
made in the woods after Serjeant Pigott's death,
and it was probably on this account that a swain-
mote87 was held at Whaddon just before Holy
Rood Day, on 12 September, 17 Hen. VIII.
Thomas Wendilborough, the keeper of the
park, deposed that a buck, a ' sore,' a ' sorell,' and
certain ' rascalls ' had died of murrain during the
preceding year and 'are hanged upon the trees.'
The two keepers of the chase, the keeper of the
Prior's Wood, and the keeper of the Abbot's Wood
also gave united testimony that a buck, a doe,
and seven ' rascalls ' had died of murrain in the
chase during the same time, and their bodies were
similarly exhibited. One poaching case in the
queen's park was presented, Robert Spencer,
gentleman, having been responsible for the death
of a ' pricket ' killed in the month of June
previous to the holding of the court. Five
persons were fined id. a piece for building and
retaining hog-sties in the chase, while the keeper
of the Abbot's Wood had made a 'park' within
the chase and taken pannage and herbage in the
wood aforesaid to the grave damage of the queen.
In this last case the jury found that the queen
had been wont time out of mind to have pannage
and herbage, waif and stray, and all other liberties
in the Abbot's Wood except such wood and
underwood as was reserved for the Abbot's use.
This matter was evidently regarded as of some
importance and reserved for the consideration of
the queen's councils. There had also been laxity
as to the commoning of sheep,88 and direction was
given that the ancient customs relating thereto
should be observed under a penalty of 40^. in
each case of default. Furthermore, an entry as
to common-rights relating to Newton Longville
seems to indicate that in the abeyance of the
regular swainmote these matters, as they affected
the chase, were dealt with in the ordinary courts
of the manor.
The most serious matter, however, which
engaged the attention of this court was the waste
of the vert both in the chase and park. The
jury returned that since the death of Thomas
Pigott 392 oaks and 18 ashes had been cut
down, and more than 600 loads of underwood
and ' top and lop ' (subbosci et rami) carried off
within the chase, as well as 137 oaks, 52
ashes, and 700 loads of underwood likewise
wasted in the park. The underwood and ' top
and lop ' was valued at the rate of bd. a load.
Moreover, Mrs. Pigott had broken and destroyed
the ' Capud Stagni vocatum le Newenton Pond-
" Court Rolls (P.R.O.), bdle. 155, No. 19.
* This was a frequent bone of contention daring
the early seventeenth century in forests and chases ; cf.
r.C.H. Essex, ii ; V.C.H. Glouc. ii, ' Forestry.' A*
regards Whaddon Chases especially, we know from
other sources that 'Sheep were not to be allowed
unfolded in the wood commons." B.M. Add. MS.
37069, fol. 147.
hede ' in the chase and taken out all the fish.
The jury found that her late husband and his
predecessors had always full fishing rights in the
pool in question, but Mrs. Pigott, in utterly de-
stroying the fish, had evidently exceeded her
powers, and she was ordered to repair the pond-
head and re-stock it.
A final presentment was made as to the parties
responsible for the keeping up of the boundary or
fence of the chase.8*
A year or more later we have further evidence
of Mrs. Pigott's reckless proceedings in certain
articles *° exhibited against her ' for wastes and
destruccions by her and her keepers done within
the Queen's Chase and Park of Whaddon ' from
the time of her husband's death till Michaelmas,
1 8 Hen. VIII. The trees felled are there esti-
mated at 600. Some of these were sold at ICM.
a piece, others carried to Doddershall for
the building of her new house there, while of
four wood-sales in Nicols Wood and the sale
of Lusshepytt and the Frith coppices she had
rendered no account. The underwood felled
was estimated as previously at 1,300 loads and
much more, and the destruction had continued
since the queen was last at Whaddon.*1
The slaughter done amongst the queen's deer
was even more serious. In one year only, from
Holy Rood Day, 17 Hen. VIII, to the same date
in the following year, more than sixty deer had
been killed in the chase, and in the 'grece tyme*
last past the keepers had killed at least twenty,
which was a very grievous offence. Nine or ten
fawns had been given to various persons, and the
keeper of the park had sent to his ' fryndes
dyverse dere in sakkys.' Indeed the ' said Eliza-
beth distroyed so largely the Quenys Grace' seid
dere that sumtyme she fedd her houshold with
them,' and venison, it was reported, was the
chief victual of the keepers on the flesh days.
What action was taken by the crown on these
revelations does not appear, but there is some
reason to believe that greater strictness was
observed during the next few years in safeguard-
ing the woodland and the venison at Whaddon.
* Quod prior de Snellyshale debet facere bundam
de le Chace a Shepcotte Yate usque Angulum de le
Oxlesse et ab Angulo de le Oxlesse usque Hacche Yate.
Johannes Hampden miles debet facere a Hacche Yate
usque clausum dicti prioris et a dicto clause prior debet
facere usque Totnolandend. Et villata de Totnoland-
ende a dicto clauso usque Ryngforde Yate. Et a
Ryngforde usque Crabtre Yate domina Regina debet
facere. Et a Crabtre Yate usque Cakefote Yate
Horwode Parva debet facere. Et a Cakefote Yate
usque finem bosci de Horwode villata de Horwode
Magna debet facere. Et • dicto fine bosci usque
Oldefeld Corner villata de Sykylburgh debet facere. Et
a Oldefelde Corner usque Lionellet Hollei villata de
Nasche debet facere.
" Forest Proc. K.R. bdle. I, No. II.
" The date of this is not stated. It may have
synchronized with the swainmote already referred to.
141
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
At the very close of her life Mrs. Pigott
was engaged in litigation in the Court of Aug-
mentations,98 and we hear incidentally that the
king, being seised of the park and chase on
the death of Queen Jane Seymour, had in July
of his thirty-second year granted her a lease
under certain conditions. In 1548 she made
her will and shortly after died and was buried
at Whaddon, Giffard's manor passing by sale
after her death to the Greys of Wilton, and with
it the hereditary custody of the park and chase
and the keepership of the game.93
The later history of the chase cannot be dealt
with in detail here, but a few notes may be
allowed as to the gradual deterioration of its
woodland. It is doubtful whether any swain-
mote courts were held in the chase after the
reign of Henry VIII, but under Elizabeth in-
quisitions were made as to the state of the wood-
land. It was found by one of these that Wood-
pond Coppice, containing fifty acres, was sold by
Mr. Sylvester Taverner,
sythe the begyning of the raign of Quyne Mary and
also Nycols Wood, containing 30 acres, was sold by
one Vaghan sarvante to the olde Earl of Sussex and
by William Cottesford and also they solde five score
trees owte of the same wood imedyatly after the
vnderwood was gone and every tree was worthe zoJ.
Also Mr. Hamden, Clarke of the Quen's Majestys
Kytchen, had for the reparatyon of Kyrsloo 40 okes
by the Quynes warrant dated the 19 Feb. 2 Eliz.
Also he had 20 okes for Kyrsloo aforsayd by Quynes
warrant 24 May 1560.
Other grants are mentioned, and as to apparently
unauthorized waste,
the olde Lord Grey of Wylton sold 20 lodes of fyre
wode yearlye for the space of 10 yeares for 2O/. by
the yeare. Also we fynde three rydynges made in
the chase by Mr. Thomas Wake lyeftenaunt there
conteyning 3 acres,
and so the tale continues of the ill custody of
the vert by its sworn guardians. It is noted
that Woodpond Coppice ' being fyrewoode was
40 years' growth when it was fallen, Nycoll's
Wood being fyrewood was 21 years' growth.'
The other wood was partly ' firewood ' and
partly timber.94 It must also be remembered
that the recognized rights of commoners95 and
others entitled to perquisites were liable to serious
abuse and no doubt contributed to the gradual
deterioration of the chase at the time.
9> Aug. Proc. (P.R.O.), bdle. 14, No. 25.
93 Add. MS. 37069, fol. 140, Lipscombe, Hist, of
Bucks,\i\, 498 ; F. of Fines, Bucks. Trin. 5 Edw. VI.
94 Add. MS. 37069, fol. 144.
95 ' Also the comyners that boundes upon the chasse
do clayme and hath had tyme owte of mynde sufficient
hedge boote owt of the Chasse to repayre the Chasse
mownde, as oft as nead dyd require,' while certain
wood rights were claimed by Lord Grey, Mr. Percival
Jefferson, the farmer of Snelshall, the ' baylye of
Wynsloo ' and others. Add. MS. 37069, fol.
Towards the end of the month of March,
1594, Sir John Fortescue wrote on behalf of the
queen to Thomas Fortescue, His Majesty's Sur-
veyor of Lands in Buckinghamshire, and to
Thomas Stafford and Edward Walter, Her
Majesty's Woodwards, that he was informed
that a great deal of the paling and rails of
Whaddon Park was blown down and utterly
decayed. Repairs must be taken in hand lest
'her Majestie's deer breake forth to the decaie
of the game there.' The timber necessary could
be felled in the park itself, while the top and lop
might be sold and the money applied to meet the
necessary expenses.98
In the autumn of the same year, after the
death of Mr. John Savage, lieutenant of the
chase, orders were ratified by the Lady Sybil
Grey as to the perquisites of the officers. The
lieutenant was to have one buck and one doe
each year with all waifs and strays and the dead
hedges of every coppice, beside all windfalls in
the chase above a load, and six loads for fuel,
while a certain number of loads of wood were to-
be allotted yearly to the other officers who were
under the general charge of Mr. Underwood,
apparently the senior keeper.97 Fees of all the
deer in the park were to belong to the keeper of
the park only, but ' all the other keepers in the
chace to haue all the fees of the deare killed
every man alyke in his turne.' No browsewood
should be sold except in one special case four
loads a year, and it was further directed for the
protection of the young trees that
no horse or geldyng be suffered to goe into any
coppice there till it shall be 8 or 9 yeres growth
without they be tied in any playne where no wood
is growyng.
In the early years of the next reign considerable
attention was directed to the woods and forests
of the crown, and about 1608 a survey98 was
made of several extents of woodland in Bucking-
hamshire and along the Northampton border,
including ' Whaddon Chase and Parke parcell of"
the Queenes Majesties joynture and Abbottes
woodes late the Lord Grayes not in her Majesties,
joynture.' As a result of this survey 328 trees
were sold for the sum of ^517 Js. ^d. Of
these the park furnished forty-two and Abbots
Wood eighty-five, the rest belonging to the
chase proper.99
But the middle of the seventeenth century saw
the most serious destruction of the timber in the
98 Add. MS. 37069, fol. 199.
97 The park-keeper was apparently Thomas Peers.
There seem to h;ive been four keepers in the chase,
William Underwood, Richard Smyth, John Maynard,
and John Brown, besides William Lorde, in charge
of ' Shucklo Warren,' and John Cartwrich, the wood-
ward.
98 P.R.O. Exch. Spec. Com. 7107.
99 For a later sale of dottard trees in the reign of
James I see Egerton MS. 808, fol. 3 et seq.
142
FORESTRY
chase, which was at this time in the hands of the
duke of Buckingham. In 1649 and 1651
Parliament100 ordered that £3,000 should be
raised by felling wood in Whaddon Chase to
meet the expenses of the garrison of Windsor
and for other purposes, and this was accordingly
carried out, while the encumbered condition of
the Villiers estates after the Civil War invited
further waste, and Catherine, duchess of Buck-
ingham, converted the park into pasture and
tillage in the reign of Charles II.
A lamentable picture of the state of the wood-
lands 101 is drawn at the end of the next century
by the reporters to the Board of Agriculture.
Whaddon Chase was then divided into several
coppices, covering about 22,000 acres, part of
which was shut up for a certain number of years,
usually nine, and then laid open to the deer as
well as to the commoners for twelve years. The
coppices produced large oak, ash, and other timber
as well as underwood, ' but from the custom
of the deer and the commoners' cattle being
suffered to depasture thereon unlimitedly, the
young timber is at this time totally destroyed.'
The reporters proceed to point out that if the
deer were confined to one spot and the chase and
commons divided among the parties interested,
it would be a very important advantage gained to the
proprietors, and a great national benefit, inasmuch as
the growth of oak and other Umber would be en-
couraged.
They further state that
large sticks have formerly been sold from this chase
for upwards of ten pounds per tree ; it is therefore
the more to be deplored, that the young timber
should be so continually destroyed, the land being so
well adapted to its growth.
From a further report lw by the Rev. St. John
Priest to the Board of Agriculture in 1813 we
learn that the coppices were twenty-eight in
number, of which twenty-one belonged to Mr.
Selby of Winslow and the rest to New College.
Besides the chase proper, he mentions certain
'busky-leys* which 'are somewhat of the same
nature, except that they have not been the pro-
perty of the Crown as Chaces have.' The
recommendations made to the Board of Agri-
culture in 1794 did not bear immediate fruit, as
the deer were still allowed to roam at large over
the chase for between forty and fifty years longer
before they were finally limited to the inclosure
of the park.
The General View of the Agriculture tf the
County of Buckingham, drawn up in 1794, by
Messrs. James and Malcolm, has already been
'" Cal. Comf. Gen. Proc. 376, 484, 520, 556, and
S. P. Dom. Interr. cxxx, 10, 52.
101 James and Malcolm, Gen. yiew Agric. Bucks.
(1794), 42.
l" Op. cit. 26, 27.
referred to in connexion with Whaddon Chase.
This comparatively brief reference to woods and
woodlands stated, at the outset, that from Marlow
to Fingest, and through that district bounded by
the London and Oxford road on the south and
the Thames on the north, one sixth part of the
land was covered with beechwood, ' which may
yield a profit of from 141. to 20*. per acre per
annum.' The woods required but little atten-
tion, as the old trees shed a sufficient quantity of
seed to keep up a constant supply of young
plants. In the parish of Wycombie there were
700 acres of common beech woodland. In the
neighbourhood of Chesham, the large thriving
beech woods were under good management.
There were also particularly fine woods of beech
growing upon the chalk in the parish of Amers-
ham. Mention is made of the large amount of
planting, chiefly with Scotch firs, which had
recently been undertaken on the heaths in the
parishes of Wavendon and Brickhill, which was
in a very thriving state.
Mr. Priest, in the tenth chapter of his report
of 1813, deals particularly with woods and plan-
tations. It is there stated that the Whaddon
coppices were sold as firewood and also for
fences ; the faggot wood at 241. per hundred,
viz. 120 faggots. The thorns were sold not only
for fences but also to fill up underdrains, and for
that purpose were carried many miles. At
Hillesden Wood, seven or eight acres were felled
once in twelve years, and at Emberton, where
there were about eighty acres of wood, six were
felled yearly. There were 140 acres of copse
wood at Stoke Goldington. On many farms
strips were set aside to grow sallows, ashes, and
elms to serve as stuff for hurdles.
The Chiltern Hills, particularly at West
Wycombe, are mentioned as abounding in low-
growing junipers. Beech is named as by far
the most abundant wood in the county, and in
general use for the manufacture of chairs. Beech
wood is sold at from I ^d. to i fd. a foot. The
beech wood was exceptionally beautiful at Shard-
low, where Mr. Drake had one beech which
was perfectly straight and 75 ft. in height up to
the first bough. The girth, two feet from the
ground, was 7 ft. 8 in., and it was estimated to
contain 229 ft. of timber.
The timber of Ashridge Park is described as
noteworthy, and the measurements are given of
several oak and beech trees.
There are some interesting comments offered
upon the growth of trees, owing to the difference
of soil above and below the Icknield-way. The
beech, ash, larch, and fir are stated not to flourish
below the Icknield-way, whilst all other trees, such
as oaks, elms, horse-chestnuts, and whitethorn
were very promising. A remarkable old oak is
named at Thornton, which was quite hollow and
capable of containing seventeen persons ; it had
a girth at the roots of 45 ft.
»43
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
As to the numerous old-established private
parks of Buckinghamshire, apart from royal
forests, abounding in fine timber and well stocked
with deer, much information has already been
recorded of Ashridge Park (chiefly in Hertford-
shire), of Fawley Court Park (partly in Oxford-
shire), as well as of the historic parks of Biddlesden,
Bulstrode, Claydon, Ditton, Doddershall, Hart-
well, Langley, Stoke, Stowe, Thornton, Turville,
Whaddon, and West Wycombe.103
Langley Park, of 383 acres, is well timbered
with oak ; to the north of the park is a large
tract of woodland, about l£ miles long by three-
quarters of a mile broad, appropriately termed the
Black Park, which is covered with Scotch firs ;
it was originally planted about the middle of the
seventeenth century, but the greater part of it is
self-sown.
There are several parks in the county which
are not deer-stocked, but are quite noteworthy for
their fine timber : three of the best examples are
Butler's Court, Beaconsfield, of 400 acres ; Gay-
hurst Park of 250 acres ; and Hughenden Manor
House of 140 acres.
The county affords instances of an exceptional
number of fine avenues of diversified interest.
To gain the noble park of Stowe from Bucking-
ham, an avenue of trees two miles in length has
to be traversed. Thornton Hall, with a park of
181 acres, has a good avenue of elms. At
Taplow Court there is a long avenue of well-
grown cedars of Lebanon. Wavendon House
has a fine elm avenue, half-a-mile in length ;
whilst Wavendon Tower has an avenue of limes
and horse-chestnuts. At Yewdon Manor,
Hambleden, there is an ancient avenue of yews.
A singularly fine yew hedge is also worth noting
at Remnantz, Great Marlow. The somewhat
wild avenue of beech and Spanish chestnuts at
Great Hampden is of historic interest.
Some of the finest beech trees of the county
are in the grounds of Hampden House ; and
excellent examples will also be found in the
beautifully diversified grounds near Chesham. At
Burnham Beeches, in the south of the county — a
beautiful remnant of English woodland scenery,
purchased by the corporation of the City of
London, under the provisions of the Open Spaces
Act of 1878 — there are numbers of great
mutilated, but picturesque beeches, pollarded in
early days.
la> P.C.H. Bucks, i, 172-5.
The ash is widely distributed throughout the
county, but chiefly in the shape of hedgerow
timber.
The woods of the north of the county are
chiefly oak with an undergrowth in which the
sloe largely predominates, and the crab-apple is
not infrequent. There are large plantations of
pine and larch at Brickhill. Throughout the
Thames Valley wych elm as well as common elm
is numerous, and frequently attains to a great
size. In the south of the county the black
poplar is fairly common. On the chalk, the yew,
juniper and holly are frequent, though usually
in stunted forms. The box flourishes and is
probably indigenous on the northern chalk
escarpment, especially in the neighbourhood of
Ellesborough. The hornbeam is perhaps com-
moner in Buckinghamshire than in any other
county, particularly on the eastern border ; and
the maple sometimes grows to a fair size, especi-
ally about Moulsoe.
The recent official agricultural returns testify
in a remarkable manner to the steady growth of
England's woodlands during the last quarter of
a century, owing to the greater attention that
has been given to the whole subject of arbori-
culture. During the ten years between 1895
and 1905 the total area of the woodlands of
England and Wales has increased by 52,483 acres.
Of this increase Buckinghamshire has had its
full share. The woodland area of this county
was 29,421 acres in 1888; 30,732 in 1891 ;
32,125 in 1895 ; and 34,548 in 1905. The
return of 1905 divides the woodlands into three
classes; (i) the coppice, under which head are
included all that springs up again from the old
stools after periodical felling ; (2) the plantations,
under which are reckoned all that has been
planted or replanted within the last fifteen years ;
and (3) other woods. The Buckinghamshire
total includes 4,586 acres of coppice and 1,322
acres of plantation.
The recent considerable increase in the wood-
land of this county is doubtless due, as elsewhere,
to no small extent to what has been termed the
luxurious value of forest trees and coverts on the
larger estates ; that is to say, to the beauty of
woodland landscape and to planting as an assist-
ance in the maintenance of game. But, at the
same time, some portion of the Buckinghamshire
increase is doubtless due to the commercial value
of beechwood in general turnery, and more
especially in the manufacture of chairs.
144
SCHOOLS
INTRODUCTION
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE is for histori-
cal purposes a single-school county.
The Grammar School of the Royal
College of the Blessed Mary of
Eton by Windsor bulks as largely
in the sphere of records in the past as it does in
the world of education to-day. The other
grammar schools of the county have been de-
prived, by the carelessness, or worse, of their
parents and guardians, of all their early history,
as in later times they were of their proper status,
until restored by the Endowed Schools Acts and
the Charity Commissioners. It is incredible
that in a county like Buckinghamshire grammar
schools should begin in the year 1440. But this
date, the date of the first foundation of Eton
College, is in the present state of knowledge the
earliest to which we can definitely assign any
educational foundation in the county. It can-
not really be the case that Buckingham, or
High, otherwise Chepping, Wycombe, or New-
port Pagnell, or Aylesbury, were without gram-
mar schools till the middle of the i6th century.
But as things stand, though it may be suspected,
it cannot be proved that they did possess them.1
The only grammar school besides Eton which
can be proved to have existed in the county
before the Reformation is one, long extinct, at
Thornton. This was founded by one of two
brothers who both bore the same name, that of
John Barton. The elder was a successful lawyer
and Recorder of London. Presumably he had
come from Buckingham, which county he repre-
sented in Parliament in 1397, as by his will,
5 June 1431,'* he directed his body to be buried
in St. Peter's Church in St. Rombald's aisle, and
gave 401. to the Hospital of St. Thomas Becket,
called of Aeon, London, to pray for his soul, and
all his lands to his brother, John Barton, junior,
on condition of maintaining a chantry chap-
lain for his and his parents' souls, to be appointed
by the master of the aforesaid hospital. These
1 While thil was passing through the press, the
proof as to Buckingham School has been found. In
a renul of John Barton (probably the elder of the
two mentioned below) of his lands in Buckingham at
Michelmas, 1423, the fint item is: ' Of the school-
master (Je magiitro icolarum) 40^.' at each of the four
terms of the year, or 1 3/. 4^. a year (B.M. Lansd.
Chart. 572).
" Browne Willis, Hut. Biuki. 54.
lands appear to have included the manor of
Thornton, conveyed to the two Bartons and
others in 1414.' John Barton, junior, also
founded, or refounded, a chantry, which had
originally been founded in 1344 by his prede-
cessor in title, John le Chastillon, with licence
from the Bishop of Lincoln, in whose diocese
Buckinghamshire was, the chantry chapel being
the chancel of the church. Barton directed this,1
by his will in 1443, to be rebuilt, and there he
and his wife still lie in effigy on an altar tomb.
The new foundation was either not completed
at the time, or else, being founded under licence
from Henry VI, it was thought prudent to re-
found it, under a licence from Edward IV. He
on 8 July 1468 4 granted the necessary permis-
sion, at the request of Thomas Littleton, ' Little-
ton on tenures,' Lord Chief Justice, and other
feoffees for Isabel the widow of John Barton,
who had become Isabel Shottesbrook, to Robert
Ingilton, who had bought from them the manor
of Thornton. In consequence the Chantry
Commissioners of Henry VIII * reported it as —
Barton's Chauntrye, founded by Roberte Ingleton, to
the intente to fynde a prieste for euer. And that the
said prieste shalle gyve yearly to 6 poore folkes contynu-
ally 6V. the weke for euery of theyme. And to gyve for
the lyuerey of 6 poore children euerye yeare to euerye
of theyme 4;. And also the said prieste to teache the
children of the said towne. The said chauntrye . . .
is obserued accordynge to the foundacyone. . . . And
so is verye necessarye. . . . Ycrly value £il IU.6J.
[Outgoings] 59/. 5|</., and so Remayneth for the
accustomablc paymentes as is before mencyoncd, viz.
for the priestes salary, £9 1 21. oj</. ; in almesse to 6
poore folkes, £~ \6t. ; and to 6 poore childcrcn, i\s.\
in all, £18 lit. o^J. William Abbotte, Incumbent
there.
There was besides 'a mansyone house,' but
this had for 1 4 or 1 5 years been in the hands of
Humfray Tirrell, whose family had succeeded
the successors of the Bartons.
The Chantry Certificate of Edward VI * gave
the additional information that Sir William Abbot,
the chantry priest, now ' of the age of 60 years,
having none other promocion, but onelie that,
• Ibid. 295.
1 Part of his will is given in Browne Willis, op. cit.
301.
4 Pat. 8 Edw. IV, pt. ii, m. 19.
' Chant. Cert. 4, no. 10 ; printed in A. F. Leach,
Eagl. Seboolt attkt Rtfirm. 14. • Ibid. 15.
'45
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
whoo hath doune heretofore, and yett doth, teach
a Free Schole of grammer according to the Foun-
dacion of the same.' The pension certificate
founded on it gave the net income of the incum-
bent as £10 8s. o^d. A note adds : '•Continuatur
the schole quoust/ue.' 7 Accordingly, by a warrant
signed 2O July 1548 by Sir Walter Mildmay and
Robert Kelway, the two officers of the Court
of Augmentations of the revenues of the Crown
accruing from the dissolutions of monasteries
and chantries, appointed to make provision for
the continuance of the schools and payments to
poor people, the school and the alms were con-
tinued. ' Forasmoche as it appearith by the
certificate of the particular surveyer of landes of
the said courte in the saide countie that a gram-
mer schole hath been contynuallie kept in
Thorneton . . with the revenues of the late
chauntery of our ladye there. . . Wee therefore
. . haue assigned and appoynted that the saide
grammer schole shall contynewe, and that Wil-
liam Abbot, scholemaster there, shall haue and
enjoye the rome of scholemaster there, and shall
have for his wages yerelie j£io 8*. o^.' The
receiver of the Crown rents in the courts was
required to pay the income accordingly.
It is clear, therefore, that this foundation,
three years later than that of Eton, was a small
Eton with such difference in size as was propor-
tionate to the riches of a recorder as compared
with the resources of a monarch. But all the
essential items were the same — the masses for the
founder's soul, the grammar school, free like that
of Eton for all children of the town or oppidans,
without payment of fees, the special provision of
scholars on the foundation, and the almsfolk.
Only whereas at Eton the masses were to be said
by a provost and 10 fellows and 10 chaplains,
and quite independent of the master who taught
the school, at Thornton the chaplain and the
master were one person ; and the 70 scholars at
Eton, boarded and lodged as well as clothed
were represented by 6 who only received their
livery, i.e. clothes; and the 13 almsfolk, lodged,
clothed, and boarded with stipends of ^3 os. 8d. a
year, were represented only by 6 almsfolk paid 6d.
a week, or less than ' a penny a day, because they
can't run any faster.' To complete the resem-
blance, the foundation was remade in the reign
of Edward IV; and as at Eton King Edward was
substituted as founder for King Henry, so the
Edwardian lord of the manor, Ingleton, was
credited with Barton's foundation.
The school was accordingly continued. The
Augmentation Office Accounts show that William
Abbot was duly paid his salary. The receiver
7 So in some cases, but it is generally abbreviated,
and should perhaps be continuetur, ' let the school be
continued.' It is not clear whether the notes on
these certificates are a record of what had been done
or orders to do something.
yearly accounts 8 for ' ^7 1 6s. cash paid to the six
poor, and in like cash (denariis) paid to William
Abbot, schoolmaster of the school of letters
(ludimagistro ludi litterarii) of Thornton, at
j£iO 8s.' — the halfpenny was dropped — ' so
allowed to him by warrant of Walter Mildemaye
and Robert Kylwey.' Two years later for the
highly Latinized substitute for grammar school,
Indus Jitterarius, the still more classically affected
palestra litterarla is used in the receiver's entry.
William Abbot was paid year by year all
through the reigns of Edward VI, Philip and
Mary, and up to 1574. No doubt he then
died, being, as he was 60 in 1548, no less than
86 years old. He was succeeded by John Kinge,
who is called by the august title of ' school-
master of Our Lady the Queen at Thorneton.'
He was paid for five years. Then came An-
thony Gate, in whose time, in 1587, the older
title of schoolmaster of the grammar school
(schole grammaticalis) was revived, and the pay-
ment was said to be made out of the church of
Penn by virtue of a warrant of William, Baron
of Burghley, Lord Treasurer of England, and of
Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
So some new proceedings had taken place in the
Exchequer resulting in the payment now being
charged on a particular piece of property, the
rectory of Penn, instead of the Crown revenues
of the county at large. Five years later the
payment is entered as made to James Smith,
' schoolmaster of the grammar school of the town
of Buckingham,' which looks as if there was an
attempt to transfer the payment from the small
village of Thornton, where no doubt the school
languished, to the county town. But if so, the
scheme was frustrated for a while ; for next year
the payment is again made to Anthony Gate,
' master at Thornton,' and so continues for four
years more. But from 1597 tne payment is
made again to James Smith, ' schoolmaster of the
grammar school of the town of Buckingham.'
This continues to the end of Elizabeth's reign.
Then it is made to Robert Tomlyns, also de-
scribed as ' schoolmaster of the grammar school
at the town of Buckingham,' and this is stated
to be done under warrant of Thomas, Lord
Buckhurst, and John Fortescue. So that again
there must have been an order definitely trans-
ferring the school, or at least its endowment,
from the small to the large place. Precedents
for this were set in the days of Edward VI by
the transfer of the endowment of St. Mary
Weeke Grammar School, Cornwall, to Launces-
ton, and in the days of Elizabeth by a decree of
the Duchy Court of Lancaster consolidating five
small neighbouring school endowments at Ponte-
fract. These have been followed in our own
time by the transfer of Hemsworth to Barnsley
under the Endowed Schools Acts.
8 Land Rev. Rec. Acct. Ser. i, bdle. 84.
146
SCHOOLS
By this process of absorption disappeared the
only proved pre-Reformation endowment in
Buckinghamshire ; a striking result of the dealings
of Edward VI with schools. For by robbing this
school of its lands and substituting a fixed pay-
ment, he prevented the income growing with
the growth of the riches of England ; and in
time, by the fall in the value of money, the
endowment was reduced from a fair living to a
miserable pittance. Buckingham, founded or
rcfounded about 1540, Stony Stratford in 1609,
Amersham in 1620, Marlow in 1628, Ayles-
bury about 1687, all suffered from the same
misfortune of a fixed income or an endowment
so limited as not to produce sufficient increment.
Wycombe, founded in 1 5 5 1 , suffered from its
endowment being mixed with that of the cor-
poration. All were starved.
ETON COLLEGE
It is impossible to give, in the space allotted,
a history of the greatest of the schools of the
world. Eton is fortunate in possessing one of
the earliest and one of the best of school his-
torians in Sir Henry Maxwell Lyte, K.C.B., the
virtual head of the Record Office under the
humble title of Deputy Keeper of the Records.
His history, the largest of school histories as be-
fits the largest of schools, originally published in
1875, was characterized by such profound
original research, and so skilful a use of the
results of research, as to make it a model for all
subsequent school historians to follow. New
editions in 1889 and 1904 have brought it up to
date and incorporated the results of later re-
searchers, particularly those of Mr. John Willis
Clark, Registrar of the University of Cam-
bridge, in his monumental work on the Architec-
tural History of the University of Cambridge.
With true historical propriety, this includes Eton
College, which owes its continued existence to
having been regarded as an integral part of the
University of Cambridge equally with its local
sister, King's College, Cambridge. His re-
searches into the history of the Eton buildings
necessarily threw much light on the general his-
tory of the school. The smaller and more recent
histories — Mr. W. Wasey Sterry's Annals »f
Eton, 1898, and Mr. Lionel Gust's History of
Eton College, 1 899 — are, as regards all but the
latest period, based almost entirely on Sir Henry
Maxwell Lyte's great work, and do not profess
to add anything about the earlier times from
original research, though giving many interesting
side-lights on the many-sided story of Eton's
later history. There is not place, therefore,
even if there were space here, for a new attempt
at a complete history of Eton. But in so large
a subject, which practically has only been handled
by one pen, there is plenty of scope for new dis-
coveries and treatment, especially as regards the
relations of Eton to the general lines of school
development and the true history of education in
England, which has been revolutionized since the
History of Eton was written.
For this purpose the original authorities have
been re-examined. As the result of examination
naturally some mistakes have been found and arc
here corrected. It has not been thought neces-
sary to draw attention in detail either to the
mistakes or the fact of a correction being made.
But wherever a date, name or fact differs from
that given by Sir H. Maxwell Lyte in what
may be called the authorized version of Eton
history, it may be taken for granted that, unless
otherwise stated, the ' revised version ' here
given is founded on the original audit rolls, or
the audit books which superseded the rolls temp.
Henry VIII. Some new documents have also
been discovered even at Eton, and new facts
brought to light. In particular, a considerable
quantity of new material has been brought to-
gether about the personality and careers of the
earlier masters and ushers, of which hitherto next
to nothing was known, or attempted to be
known. The result is that a mere dry catalogue
of ' names and nothing more ' with uncertain
circa dates, has been converted into a supplement
for a small Dictionary of National Biography.
Further, the current idea that the pre-Reforma-
tion schools were staffed by obscure and un-
learned clergy or monks (which last had nothing
to do with teaching school) and that their his-
tory merits no attention, receives a new reversal.
A large amount of new light has been thrown
on the learning^nd curriculum of pre-Reforma-
tion Eton from Eton documents discovered em-
bedded in the archives of other schools. Another
result of the re-examination of the documents in
the light of modern knowledge has been to show
how much greater and more prolonged than was
supposed has been the guidance and assistance
which Eton received from Winchester. While
the actual migration of half the college, fellows
and boys, from Winchester to Eton, accepted by
Maxwell Lyte from a Wykehamical source,1 has
already been shown from latdr Wykehamical
authorities u to have been a gross exaggeration,
the real transfusion of spirit and method is
shown to be far greater and more continuous
than was ever dreamed of. When we find that
not only the first three provosts and the first two
head masters, but also the first two ushers, and
out of the first twenty-five head masters no less
than twelve, and out of the ushers of the same
period, so far as they can be traced, at least eight
hailed from Winchester, we see that the influ-
ence of Winchester on the development of Eton
1 Mackenzie Walcott, miTiam of tfjktbam **d hii
Collegei, 135.
'• See below, p. 155.
'47
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
and the debt of Eton to Winchester is greater
than that of any one great school has ever been
to any other. Thcjilia pulchrior on the banks
of the Thames is in a far deeper sense a daughter
of the mater pulchra on the banks of the Itchen
than was imagined by those who on 19 October
1906 celebrated at New College the ancient
Amabilis Concordia between the two colleges of
Our Lady of Winchester and of Eton. Not
only was the foundation of Eton conceived and
executed by Wykehamists, but it was saved from
destruction and practically refounded by Wyke-
hamists, it was nursed by Wykehamists through
all its earlier troubles, and for 100 years drew the
majority and the most celebrated of its pastors
and masters from the ranks of those who were
sons of Wykeham in a double sense, as being
both scholars of Winchester and fellows of New
College.
First as to the original idea of Eton. We
may put aside all that has been written about
learning being in the lowest state of depression
before its foundation, or of the school being part
of a movement inaugurated by William of
Wykeham to rescue learning from the monks,
or to substitute the secular for the regular clergy
as teachers. The monasteries never had been,
as asserted, ' the principal seats of education in
England ' ; the monks never had been the chief
educators or teachers. The monasteries had at
one time, and to some extent, been homes of
learning, but only for the benefit of their own
members, and they remained schools of history,
as a pastime for the dreary hours of cloister life,
till the middle of the I5th century. Public
schools they never were. Even when, in succes-
sion to secular colleges, they governed public
schools or maintained them, they never main-
tained them out of their own revenues, but out
of revenues held in trust ; and the schoolmasters
were not monks but seculars, sometimes priests,
sometimes laymen. Those who have read in
former volumes of the Victoria County History
the accounts of the grammar schools of Win-
chester and Durham, of St. Albans and Bury St.
Edmunds, of Reading, Gloucester, and Bristol,
of Derby, of Thetford and Dunwich, all connect-
ed with various orders of the regular clergy, will
have seen that where the monks or the regular
canons obtained control of the schools, it was in
supersession of the secular clergy, and that even
then the actual teachers in the grammar or
public schools remained secular clerks, while
those taught in them were always secular clerks.
When we come to deal with the universities of
Oxford and Cambridge, it will be seen that they
were purely a secular creation, as were the
colleges in them. Though the new regular
orders of the friars early pushed themselves into
the universities, and though the secular colleges
of Merton and Balliol were imitated by the
monks in the regular colleges of Gloucester and
Durham, of St. Bernard and St. Mary, the
universities and colleges themselves, like the
cathedral and collegiate schools from which they
sprang, remained essentially secular. A good
deal of the illusion as to the schools being monastic
is due to the confusion of the term monastic
with the term ecclesiastic, of monks with clerics,
and of the seculars, i.e. secular clergy, with the
laity. Schools, colleges, and universities, were
matters of ecclesiastical cognizance and subject
to ecclesiastical law ; they were created by
clerics for clerics, and a layman by going to
school became pro tanto a cleric, in days when the
law, the treasury, the civil service, and diplomacy
were merely branches of the clerical service.
But to say that mediaeval schools were monastic
because they were ecclesiastical, or to confound
schoolmasters with monks, because they were
clerics, is much like confusing the modern clerk
with the modern cleric, or the modern learned
practitioners of law and medicine with the
modern clergy. When Eton was founded the
monastic ideal had long been on the wane.
Scarcely a single monastery had been founded in
the previous 100 years, while many old ones, in
the shape of alien priories, had been secularized
or converted into ecclesiastical establishments.
The foundation of Eton College was no new
departure. Eton furnished no new model in
institutions, it inaugurated no new era in educa-
tion, it marked no important phase in the history
of learning. It was the expression of the enthu-
siasm of a pious youth who wore a crown, under
the guidance of his ecclesiastical pastors and
masters, to connect his own name with an ever-
lasting monument of munificence. Its founder
never claimed originality for his foundation. In
the foundation charter of 1 1 October I44O,2
Henry VI says as plainly as possible that he was
imitating his ancestors' regard for the Church,
Whose royal devotion founded not only in this our
Kingdom of England, but also in divers foreign
regions, monasteries, churches and other pious places
... we also who . . . have now taken into our
hands the government of both our Kingdoms, have
from the very beginning of our riper age carefully
revolved in our mind how ... or by what royal
gift, according to the measure of our devotion and the
example of our ancestors, we could do fitting honour
to that Mistress and mother, to the pleasure of her
great Spouse, and at length ... it has become a
fixed purpose in our heart to found a college ... in
the parish church of Eton by Windsor not far from
our birth-place.
He, accordingly,
' to the praise honour and glory of the Crucified and
the exaltation of the most glorious Virgin Mary, His
mother, and the establishment of the most holy church,'
founded ' a college ... in and of the number of a
Provost and 10 priests, 4 clerks, 6 chorister boys, there
2 Pat. 19 Hen. VI, pt. ii, m. 20.
148
SCHOOLS
daily to serve at divine worship, and 25 poor and
needy (pauperes et indigentes) scholars to learn grammar
there, and further of 25 poor and disabled men to
pray for the souls of Henry V, Queen Katharine and
all his forefathers, and all the faithful departed ; also
of a Master or Teacher (Informator) in grammar to
teach the said needy scholars and all others whatso-
ever from any p.irt of our realm of England coming
to the said college freely (gratis), without exaction of
money or anything else.'
When the foundation was completed and its
objects were precisely stated, they were expressed
in the very words of William of Wykeham in
founding Winchester College, by saying that it
was to be a seminary for the better education of
an orthodox clergy.
The first charter was but a sketch. Under it
the provost and the rest were to be appointed
and removed according to statutes yet to be
made, and were to dwell in a certain site, 300 ft.
long by 260 ft. broad, next to Eton church-
yard ; the patronage of which had been recently
bought by the king. The patent named Henry
Sever as first provost, John Kette, clerk, William
Haston and William Dene as first priest-fellows,
Roger Flecknore, William Kente, John Haly-
wyn and Henry Cokkes as first choristers, and
William Stokkes and Richard Cokkes as the first
'needy scholars,' with two clerks and two
almsmen. The master or informer in grammar
was not named, probably because none had been
appointed. The college was incorporated under
the name of the ' Provost and King's College of
the Blessed Mary of Eton by Windsor.' To
that corporation the parish church was granted,
with power to transmute it into a collegiate
church and appropriate it to themselves, and
with licence in mortmain to hold other property
up to 1,000 marks, or £666 131. 4^. a year.
Two days later, 13 October 1440, the com-
missioners of the Bishop of Lincoln, in whose
huge diocese Buckinghamshire then was, viz.
William [Ayscough], Bishop of Salisbury,
Thomas Bekynton and Richard Andrew, doctors
of law, appointed 29 September, met the king's
proctor William Lynde at Eton, ' erected ' the
parish church into a collegiate church and
decreed that it should be appropriated to the
college. On 20 October, with the consent of
Bekynton, in whose jurisdiction, as Archdeacon
of Buckingham, the church was, and of Kette,
who was rector and resigned it, the commis-
sioners admitted Provost Sever to the rectory on
behalf of the college. The whole proceeding
was recited and confirmed by Pope Eugenius IV
at Florence ' at the King's humble supplication '
on 28 February 1440—1. The same day another
bull gave the king leave to provide and assign
whatever dress he liked for the provost, master,
and others, to grant the use of amices of grey,
of vzir or other furs, the distinctive dress of
cathedral or secular canons, and to make statutes
about wearing them whether in church or else-
where, while a third bull empowered the college
to farm out its lands to laymen as well as
ecclesiastics — the ordinary canon law forbidding
ecclesiastical property being farmed out to any
but ecclesiastics.
The first stone of a new church was laid by
Henry VI himself at some date unknown, but
before Passion Sunday, 2 April 1441,* when he
laid the first stone of the sister college, the King's
College of St. Nicholas at Cambridge ; the name
of which was due to the king's birthday being
6 December, the day of St. Nicholas, and
perhaps also to the chantry4 in Eton church
with an altar in honour of this patron saint of
schoolboys and learned clerks.
In all this there was nothing novel, nothing
exceptional. It was simply the ordinary process
of converting a parish church, the endowment of
a single priest, into a collegiate church, to be the
home of several priests, with the canonical free
grammar school and an almshouse attached.
There were scores of such colleges then existing
scattered through the country. Many of them,
like Beverley Minster, Yorkshire, Southwell
Minster, Nottinghamshire, dated from imme-
morial antiquity before the Conquest. But many
of the older foundations had been converted, like
St. Frideswide's, Oxford, and St. Paul's, Bedford,
into monasteries. So at the time Eton was
founded, probably the majority of these colleges
were of later date than the middle of the I3th
century. For ever since the monastic furore had
abated, and the founding of friaries had ceased,
and the reaction in favour of the secular clergy
had set in, that is from the middle of the 1 3th
century onwards, hardly a year had passed with-
out some similar institution being founded.
Walter of Merton in 1275 had taken a new
departure in founding at Merton College a
collegiate church in which education and not
religious worship was the primary purpose.
After that, education had tended to become
more and more prominent in the new founda-
tions. In 1382 William of Wykeham, in
founding Winchester College, had taken a
double new departure, first, in incorporating a
collegiate church of schoolboys instead of
' Robert Willis and John Willis Clark, Archil. Hilt,
of the Univ. of Camb. i, 321 :
Unctum qui lapidem poitquam ponebat in Eton
Hunc fixit clcrum commemorando mum ;
M Domini, c quater quadraginta monoi patet annit,
Pasiio cum Domini concelebrata fuit
Annul crat dccimut nonui, meniii ted Aprilii I
Hie flectentc genu Rcge Kcunda diet.
4 Lincoln Epis. Keg. Repingdon, fol. 251. In 14*5,
inhibition against the admission of anyone to chantry
at altar of St. Nicholas in church of St. Mary Eton,
pending a suit between Kathcrinc widow of Sir
Thomas Aylesbury and Sir Thomas Wauton, Sheriff
of Bedfordshire and others. One wonders whether this
chantry priest was not also a grammar school master.
149
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
university students, and, secondly, in directly
connecting this collegiate-church-school with a
university students' collegiate church. He had
also set, not the first example by any means —
the example which may have been the first was
set by John Grandison, Bishop of Exeter, in the
foundation of Ottery St. Mary's College and
Grammar School in 1332 — but the first example
on a large scale of finding ready provision for
educational endowments in the purchase of alien
priories. The direct model and mother of Eton
was Winchester College, its grandmother was
Merton College, but its ultimate model was to
be found in the cathedral churches of York and
London and of Winchester and Canterbury be-
fore these passed into the hands of the monks.
The alien priories, religious houses in England
belonging to monasteries abroad, nearly all in
France, had to pay in some cases their whole
surplus net revenues, in others fixed pensions, to
the mother houses abroad ; and these revenues
were naturally made the subject of taxation by
the French kings, and so the revenues and re-
sources of England were used against itself. In
Wykeham's time these alien priories were only
sequestrated during the war, and he had to
obtain papal bulls authorizing the foreign houses
to sell, and he had to pay a good price for what
he bought. Henry V confiscated them wholly
to the Crown. It has been alleged by Anthony
Wood that Henry V intended ' to have built a
college in the castle of Oxford . . . and there-
unto to have annected all the alien priories in
England.' This must be an egregious exaggera-
tion. An endowment of that amount would
have been overwhelming. The statement seems
to be an enlargement of John Rows, the War-
wick chronicler, who wrote in 1485 that
Henry V ' intended to found a noble college at
Oxford in which there should be deep research
in the seven sciences,' the ordinance for which
Rows himself in his youth had seen. But, con-
sidering that some fifty of the most splendid
collegiate churches, colleges, and schools were
richly endowed out of the alien priories, it is
quite impossible that Henry V could ever have
intended to bestow them all on one foundation.
The story shows, however, how the foundation
of colleges was in the air.
Henry VI succeeded to the throne at nine
months old on i September 1422. So full
were the Privy Council of the advantages of
school education that three years later6 they
directed that all the heirs of all the lords of the
realm, at least of the rank of barons, holding in
chief, who as minors were in the wardship of
the Crown, should be sent up and kept about the
person of the king and in his house at his ex-
pense, accompanied by at least one master. It
is possible, when we remember how Richard
Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, the king's tutor,
travelled in Italy, and how Cardinal Beaufort,
his uncle, was at home abroad, that the Privy
Council were consciously imitating the famous
Giocosa or Home of Joy, the palace school
started by Vittorino da Feltre at Mantua in
1423, where he taught the children of the reign-
ing Marquis Gonzaga and others, from the age
of three to the age of twenty-three. Henry, poor
child, was only two years old when the Lady
Alice Boteler was appointed to teach him
courtesy and good breeding and other things,
with full 'leave to chastise us reasonably from
time to time as the case may require,' and on
1 6 March 1426 her salary was increased by £40
a year, charged on the fee-farm of Great Yar-
mouth. On i June 14.28,** i.e. as soon as he
ceased at seven years old to be an infant and
became a boy, the lady was superseded by
Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who
was to teach him ' bons moeurs, lettrure, Ian-
gage, nurture et courtoisie, et autres virtus et
enseignements,' or, as it was expressed also in
English, ' shall do his devoir and diligence to
teche the Kyng, and make hym to be taught,
nurture, lettrure (literature), language, and other
manere of cunnyng as his age shall suffre him to
more comprehende, suche as it fitteth so greet a
prince to be lerned of.' Needless to say that ' our
reasonable chastisement as other princes of our
realm and other are accustomed to be chastised
... if we estrange ourselves from learning and
commit faults,' was not forgotten. This Richard
Beauchamp contemplated a ' regal college of
Trinity ' at Guy's Cliff, but he contented him-
self with a chantry of two priests. Henry
Beaufort, Wykeham's successor at Winchester
and Henry's favourite uncle, had re-endowed,
and rebuilt on an ampler scale, the famous alms-
house of St. Cross by Winchester. He had
also assisted or authorized Winchester College to
increase its endowment by the acquisition of the
alien priory of Andover as early as 1413, though
the college only entered into possession in 1437.
The Earl of Suffolk who, after Duke Humphrey,
was practically Prime Minister and was one of
Henry's chief advisers and managers as regards
buildings, himself founded at Ewelme in Oxford-
shire in 1439 a hospital for 12 poor men with 2
priests to look after them, one a master and the
other ' a well disposed man apt and able to
teachyng, to teach and inform children in the
faculty of gramer.' Thomas Kemp, Archbishop
of York, in 1431 obtained licence in mortmain
for a college at his native place Wye, in Kent,
which included a grammar school. Above all,
Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury,
the earliest successful product of Winchester and
New College, for whom, as his baptizer,
Henry VI had especial regard, founded a smaller
'ActsofP.C.m, 170, 28 June 1425.
Ibid. 296.
150
SCHOOLS
Winchester at his birthplace, Higham Ferrers,
in 1422-5, a college of a master and 7 fellows,
' with masters in grammar and song for all coming
there,' and an almshouse of 1 2 poor men, and en-
dowed it with the alien priory of Mersea in
Essex ; while he also founded a smaller New
College at Oxford in the college of All Souls
in 1432, also partly endowed with alien priories
bought from the Crown. But perhaps the
most striking of the new cluster of educational
foundations was that of William Byngham,
rector of St. John Zachary, London, in the
Domus Dei or God's house at Cambridge.
In his petition in 1439 for licence in mortmain
for the foundation of a college of a master and
24 scholars who were to be trained in grammar,
he said that he had found all over the country
grammar schools, formerly flourishing, now fallen
into abeyance for lack of proper teachers. He
therefore established this, the first training college
on record in England, anticipating the secondary
training colleges recently started by some 470
years. Grammar was to be taught, not only
because, as in Wykeham's day, it was ' the key
to the Scriptures, the gate to the liberal sciences,
and to theology, mistress of them all,' but
because ' it was necessary in dealing with law
and other difficult matters of state, and also the
means of mutual communication and conversa-
tion between us and strangers and foreigners.'
The scholars when trained were to issue from
the college to teach schools all over the country.
This remarkable experiment came to an un-
timely end, at the hands of Henry himself,
being remove! to make way for King's College
chapel, and eventually absorbed in Christ's
College.
With these examples set him by those who
had brought him up as a boy and guided him
as a young man, Henry only followed the
fashion in founding a school at Eton and a
college in connexion with it at Cambridge. The
particular form the two took, and the whole
conception as well as execution of the design of
Eton and King's, is due first and foremost to
Archbishop Chicheley and next to the other
Wykehamists who managed the domestic affairs
of the kingdom at that time, Thomas Bekynton,
William Say, Richard Andrews, and Andrew
Holes or Hulse. The actual instrument was
Bekynton. Admitted a scholar of Winchester
in 1403 and of New College in 1405-6, he re-
mained a law fellow of New College, student of
civil and canon law and doctor of the same till
1420, when he became chancellor of the Pro-
tector, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and was
made Archdeacon of Buckingham in 1422. In
1423 he was Dean of Arches and with his deputy,
the celebrated writer on canon law, William
Lyndwood, assisted in persecuting heretics. In
1432 he acted as ambassador to France. In that
year Henry VI, then ten years old, appears as
founder of the University of Caen. In 1433
Bekynton was prolocutor of Convocation. As
archdeacon of the county in which Eton was
situate, as well as royal secretary, he took a leading
part in the foundation of the college. The nego-
tiations with the pope for the bulls connected with
it were conducted by Andrew Hulse, royal proctor
at the papal court, a scholar of Winchester
1407 and of New College 1414. Hulse was
nominated by the king for the see of Coutances
on two occasions, but the first nomination mis-
carried by the tardiness of the messenger, and the
next was on false information of a vacancy which
had not occurred, though for the greater part of
a year Bekynton wrote to him as his venerable
father as if he was actually bishop elect.6 So
poor Hulse never attained any higher dignity
than that of canon of Chichester and chancellor
of Salisbury Cathedral. One at least of the
messengers between them, John Burgh, was ako
a Wykehamist. Richard Andrew, Official of
the court of Canterbury, Bekynton 's colleague in
the commission to appropriate Eton Church, and
his subsequent successor as archdeacon and Privy
Seal, was also a Wykehamist, and at this very
time was the first warden of All Souls College,
Oxford.
In October 1440 the king was only 18 years
of age, and he speaks of the foundation as a ' sort
of first-fruits of his taking the government on
himself.' We may, therefore, surely credit the
initiative in the foundation of Eton to Chicheley
and Bekynton, just as we may credit to them
the foundation of the university of Caen in
1432-7, and the university of Bordeaux in
1441, of which Henry was also the nominal
founder.
The instructions to the English envoys at the
Council of Basle found among Bekynton's letters
were probably drawn up by him. One of them
specially refers to the alien priories, apparently in
contemplation of the use to which they were to
be put in connexion with Eton and King's. If
proposals were made for the repeal of any of the
statutes of the realm, especially those concerning
priories or possessions of aliens, the envoys were
to say they had no instructions. They could,
however, as from themselves, but not as ambassa-
dors, nor as representing the king, say that ' ac-
cording to the ancient laws of England, if any-
one held property on conditions, and failed to
fulfil the conditions, the donor could re-enter
on the property, and the churches and monasteries
of aliens failing to perform the conditions on
which they were held, the gifts were ifsa facto
revoked and granted to the Crown.' Yet
Henry V had intended to grant them ' not to
their former abuses, but to pious uses ' and obtained
' This seems to be the explanation of what puzzled
the editor of Bekynton's correspondence, that he, the
senior, addressed his junior, Hulse, as 'venerable father.'
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
a bull from Martin V enabling him to do so, and
also to compensate the former possessors, and had
actually offered this compensation, and ' even
now, if they made humble application to the
king, they might receive it.' Needless to say
they did not apply and did not get it. But the
bulk of the property did revert to ' pious uses,'
and Eton and King's represents a large slice of
it. In 1437 Bekynton acted as king's secretary,
and in 1439 was formally appointed to that
office. In that year he accompanied Cardinal
Beaufort on an embassy to France. Immediately
after his return the foundation of Eton began.
The first step was the purchase of the rectory of
Eton in September 1440. Next month came,
as we saw, the formal foundation charter and the
conversion of the parish, into a collegiate, church.
So exact was the imitation of Wykeham's foun-
dation that as he had made a fellow of Merton,
then by far the greatest college in the university,
the first warden of his college at Winchester, so
resort was had to a fellow of the same college
for the first provost of Eton. This was Henry
Sever, fellow in 1419, and proctor of the univer-
sity in 1427. Eton writers have been somewhat
unkind to his memory, speaking of him as a
person of no importance. But he was one of
the great men of the day. A king's clerk, prob-
ably in Chancery, he already held a canonry in
Bridgnorth collegiate church from 1435, the
wardenship of Trinity College, or collegiate
church of Stratford on Avon from 1436, and a
canonry in the collegiate church of St. Stephen's,
Westminster, from 1438. Like Wolsey after-
wards, he was king's almoner. When he left
the provostship in 1442 it was to become Chan-
cellor of Oxford University, and in 1449 he was
Chancellor of St. Paul's and Dean of Bridgnorth.
In 1453 he became Warden of Merton, in which
capacity his benefactions were so extensive that
he was hailed as second founder. He died 6 July
1471 in possession of all these offices.
Sir Edward Creasy has been severely rebuked
for calling him, in his Memorials of Eminent
Etonians, ' Dean of Westminster,' when West-
minster had an abbot, and no dean till a century
later. But it was not uncommon to speak of
the canons of the royal chapel or collegiate
church of St. Stephen, which afterwards became
the House of Commons, as canons of West-
minster, and the term Dean of Westminster
was therefore correct, if Sever had been dean, but
the list of deans does not seem to include his
name.
There seems to be no possibility of ascertaining
when exactly the school itself began, and as only
two scholars are named in the first charter of
October 1440, it does not seem likely that the
school was then opened ; indeed, there were no
endowments then given to support it, nor any
buildings in which to hold it. The bull, in
exact imitation of a similar one given to Win-
chester College, enabling the college to let its
lands to laymen, was given before there were
any lands to let. A large number of the papal
bulls obtained by Wykeham for Winchester
College related to the right of services in the
college chapel, burial in its cloisters, a belfry and
bells and retaining burial fees, &c., and were
unnecessary for Eton, which, inheriting the rights
of a parish church, numbered these among them.
Winchester had the usual building bull ; a bull
in the same form which afterwards so exercised
Luther, except that it granted only 100 days'
relaxation of penance and an indulgence of 40
years,not perpetual indulgence, to those who visited
the place and contributed to the buildings. On
28 May 1441 a similar bull was granted for
those visiting Eton and contributing to Eton on
the same terms as were given to those who on
the day of St. Peter ad Vincula, 1 August, visited
the church of St. Peter ad Vincula in Rome. It
is a disadvantage of this legislation by reference
that we do not know what those terms were.
We soon find Bekynton writing to press for
greater advantages, and on 9 May 1442 a 'plenary
indulgence ' was granted to those visiting Eton
on the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August)
and contributing. The contributions were,
however, to be divided between papal and royal
objects, viz. three-fourths for a crusade against
the Turks, one-fourth only to the king's college.
Moreover it was limited to the king's life. So
once again Bekynton had to ask for more, and
on 1 1 May 1444 the bull was made perpetual.
But the king's ideas continually enlarging, three
years later a further bull, 25 January 1446-7,
was obtained, giving seven years' and seven
Lents' indulgence to those who visited Eton on
any of the Virgin's feast days, and on St. Nicholas'
Day (6 December) or the Translation of Edward
the Confessor.
As soon as the king had got his bull for found-
ing Eton, he founded his other college at Cam-
bridge, of a rector and 12 scholars, by patent of
12 February 1440—1, incorporating them as ' the
rector and scholars of the King's College of
St. Nicholas of Cambridge,' with William Mil-
lington as first rector, and John Kyrkeby and
William Haytclyffe, who seem to have been all
Yorkshiremen, as the first scholars or probationary
fellows. There was at first no organic connexion
between the two colleges, as there was between
Winchester and New College ; and if, as seems
likely, the influence of Chicheley was at first the
predominant influence in the foundation, it is
possible that none was intended. While in both
patents power was reserved to increase the num-
bers, no power was reserved to alter the founda-
tion. Moreover, it is probable that at this time the
prudence of his council prevailed, and Henry's
advisers had no intention of letting him emulate
the stupendous size of Wykeham's foundations
with their 70 scholars each, but made him con-
152
SCHOOLS
tent himself with the more modest proportions
of 25 scholars at Eton and 12 at Cambridge.
Indeed, the earliest connexion of Eton with
a university was with Oxford, for on 3 February
1441-2 the king granted the manor of ' Ponyng-
ton ' (Hants) parcel of the alien priory of
Ogbourne to John Carpenter, master or warden
of St. Anthony's Hospital, London, for the
exhibition of five scholars at Oxford (each having
lod. a week until he took the degree of B.A.)
who had received the rudiments of grammar at
Eton, and were appointed according to the Eton
statutes. So the earliest edition of these statutes
provided for scholars to Oxford instead of to
King's, Cambridge. This grant was apparently
resumed at the beginning of the reign of Ed-
ward IV, and these Eton scholarships at Oxford
then ceased.
On 5 March 1440-1 'the Kyngc's College
of oure Ladye of Eton besyde Wyndesore ' was
endowed by letters patent bestowing on it a
great mass of property which had belonged to
alien priories. A large part consisted only of
annual pensions payable from English cells to
their principal houses abroad. Thus the first
item is an annual pension of 1 8 marks from the
alien vicarage of Marlon, the next are pensions
of 40*. from Aveley Church, Essex, and from
Fulbourn Church, Cambridgeshire, and the whole
tithes of Bures St. Mary, Essex, all belonging to
the alien priory of Panfield in Essex. Then
came an annual tribute which the priory of
Montacute was bound to pay the Crown for the
ancient apportus (i.e. export) ' payable in time of
peace to the head house of that priory in parts
beyond the sea,' and a similar apportus of 20s.
which the Prior of Goldcliff had to pay to his
head house. Next followed three alien priories
which were bodily transferred to the new college,
viz. ' the alien priory and manor of Toftes,' Nor-
folk, of Sporle, Norfolk, and of Brimpsfield,
Gloucestershire. Then came the manors of
Blakenham, Suffolk, and Cottisford, Oxfordshire,
part of the alien priory of Ogbourne (Okeburn),
i Hampshire ; all the manors in Wiltshire belonging
to the Dean of Mortain ; and 1 31. \d. the apportus
due from Thetford Priory to Cluny. There
followed the rent of ^8 13;. \d. payable by Sir
William, Lord of Lovell, kt., ' for the custody of
the alien priory of Minster Lovell, with its appur-
tenances, granted to him for 18 years from the
death of Jane, late Queen of England, and the
reversion of the same priory when it falls in.'
The rest of the items are similar, a large number
consisting, at first, of the yearly rents only of
alien priories, leased like that of Minster Lovell
to the neighbouring landed proprietors fora term
of years, the full benefit of which would only
accrue to the college on the expiration of the
leases. The actual rents accruing at once
amounted 10^513 2s. id., in addition to four
whole priories, two manors, and some odd
lands given in immediate possession, worth per-
haps between them another £100 a year. The
total income was slightly larger than that on
which Winchester College was started.
On Saturday, 31 July 1441, 'Henry VI went
to Winchester College, where ' he was present at
first vespers and next day at mass and second
vespers and offered 131. 4^.,' a mark of gold, the
usual royal offering. The result of this week-end
visit was momentous to Eton. For it resulted in
the transfer in October or November 1 44 1 of Wil-
liam Wayneflete, the then head master of Win-
chester, to Eton, and it was to Wayneflete rather
than to Henry VI that Eton owed its final con-
stitution, its preservation from destruction, and its
restitution by Ed ward IV, and the completion of its
buildings. It is by no means certain that Wayne-
flete went to Eton, as commonly stated, as the
first head master. The evidence strongly suggests
that he went, not as head master, but as provost.
But a curious darkness overhangs the whole of
Wayneflete's life until he became head master of
Winchester. It is extremely doubtful, to say the
least of it, whether he ever was, as has been
asserted, a scholar at Winchester or of New Col-
lege. His family name is said to have been
Pattene, otherwise Barbour. No such name is
found in the Scholars' Register at Winchester,
unless he can be identified with William Pattene
of Patney, Wiltshire, admitted in 1403. The
identification is unlikely, as it would make him
at least ninety-five years old when he died, and
it would be very strange, as it is certain that
Wainfleet in Lincolnshire was his birthplace, or
at least his breeding-place, that he should have
been Pattene of that ilk in Wiltshire. Nor is
his name to be found in the records of New Col-
lege as a scholar or fellow. It is a rather violent
assumption that he was a commoner at either
college. There are nearly complete lists of trip
commoners at Winchester to be deduced from the
steward of hall's books, which show those dining
in hall in each week, and neither Wayneflete,
Barbour, nor Pattene, occurs among them. It is
doubtful if there were any commoners at New
College at the time. None appear in the hall
books there, nor does Wayneflete's name appear
in them. On the other hand it is certain that
Wayneflete was at Oxford from a letter addressed
about April 1447 to him by the university8 when
Provost of Eton, in which they say, ' we believe
that you have always before your eyes the great
love by which you are bound to the mother who
7 Not 1440, as given in Chandler's Life of H'atne-
tttte and Mackenzie Walcott's William of Wykeham and
His Colleges, 1 36 ; Kirby, Annals «/ Winchester College,
192, and Maxwell Lyte's Eton, 5. The dates relating
to the Eton foundation have been as much confused
as those of Winchester, owing to its not being ob-
served that the year of the king did not coincide with
the year of our Lord.
• Ef'ut. AcaJ. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), i, 158.
'53
20
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
conceived you in her spiritual womb and brought
you forth into the light of knowledge, and until
you grew to the strength of manhood, in which
you excel, nourished you with most precious
meals, with the greatest favour and the alimony
of all the sciences.' This almost looks as if
Wayneflete had even spent his school days as well
as his college days at Oxford. Wayneflete first
appears in public records8" on receiving letters of
protection when sent in the train of Robert
Fitz Hugh, D.D., Warden of the King's Hall
at Cambridge, and John Bonner, Dec.D., and
others, on an embassy to the pope at Rome, to
explain why the force of 500 spears and 5,000
archers raised by Cardinal Beaufort for a crusade
against the Hussites of Bohemia had been diverted
to English purposes, viz. the 'necessarie eschu-
ing ' of the loss of France. The letters of pro-
tection are dated 15 July 1429, and describe
Wayneflete as Bachelor of Laws. Next year
there are entries in the Bursars' Roll at Winches-
ter of ' 2s. 6d.t for the expenses of Sir John
Edmond riding to Oxford to inquire and com-
municate with divers people to get a Magister
Informator,' and of '61. for expenses of Sir
Thomas Baylemond riding to Oxford in the
month of June to provide an Informator, includ-
ing 2s. for the hire of a horse for the purpose for
6 days.' For the quarter beginning 24 June
1430" 'Mr. William Wanneflete ' was paid 501.
as ' teacher of the scholars {Informator scolarium).'
So that he was imported direct from Oxford.
He continued, under curious variants of name,
Wanflet, Waneflett, Weyneflete, Wayneflete, to
be paid as head master jCio a year for eleven
and a quarter years, until Michaelmas 1441.
From Michaelmas 1441 to 1442 the head master
was Thomas Alwyn or Walwayn of Newport
Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, who, for five years,
24 June 1425 to 24 June 1430, had been
Wayneflete's predecessor in the head-mastership.
This looks as if the vacancy was suddenly
created and resort was therefore had to an old
and tried man to fill it. Wayneflete occurs
several times in the Winchester Hall books as a
guest at the high table in September and October
1441. He then seems to have gone to Eton,
a year earlier than has been hitherto supposed.10
If he went as head master, this also makes Eton
School a year older than it has hitherto been
credited with being. But the school did not
begin probably till 1443. In 1441 there were
no buildings, and apparently no site on which to
erect buildings, to accommodate the boys or the
masters.
te Acts ofP.C. iii, 347.
9 Not in 1429 as Walcott, Kirby, and others.
10 Walcott's Wm. ofWykcham and His Colleges, 135;
Maxwell Lyte, Hist, of Eton (1899), 17 ; Diet. Nat.
Biog., &c., all put him down as going to Eton in
1442. Chandler's Life of Wayneftete on the other
hand takes him there a year too early, in 1440.
The Eton College building accounts are
happily extant. A wages book, headed ' Day
book of the first year ' (Jornale anno printo),
showing that it was started at the very beginning
of the works, begins on 3 July 1441 and extends
to 5 February 1441-2. The workmen11 'con-
sisted mainly of labourers, of whom 32 were em-
ployed weekly until the middle of November.
. . . The number of labourers may perhaps
indicate the digging of foundations, which are
specially mentioned in the next year.' There
were a few masons and carpenters employed,
but it is conjectured that they were employed
on the old church, which was being enlarged
and beautified. It is probable that the founda-
tions dug in 1441-2 were those of the new
collegiate church ; for the rest of the site was
not yet fully conveyed. On the Conversion of
St. Paul (25 January) 1441-2 la the first of a
series of Private Acts of Parliament confirmed
the grants already made by the king of the old
parish church and of the endowment and the
incorporation of the college. But it was not
till six days later, by patent of 31 January
1441—2, that a further part of the site was
acquired by the conveyance of Huntercomb's
garden (Hundercombs gardyn), Rolf's shaw
(Rolveshawe), and a tenement of Walter, while
on 9 May 1442 the grant of the Kingsworth,
which is identified as part of the playing fields,
completed the site. These grants, with others
of pardon for introducing papal bulls, of fairs
and markets and exemption from divers royal
and other liabilities and imposts, were confirmed
by Private Act of Parliament 5 March 1445-6."
On 1 6 April 1442 digging foundations was still
the main work, payment being made for 31
loads of loam ' from the foundacion of the
college,' and on 22 July 1442 there were still 45
labourers digging foundations ; though 53 free-
masons, 15 rough masons, and 45 carpenters,
also hard at work, show extensive buildings in
progress. Apart from the church, however, the
school and college buildings were wholly of
brick with quoins and mullions of stone. It
was not till April 1442 that ground was hired
at Slough to make a brick kiln, nor till 28 May
1442 that the first instalment of bricks, 66,000,
was delivered. In that year 463,600 bricks and
in 1443-4 over a million bricks were taken ; so
that it is to the years 1442—4 that the building
of the school and college must be attributed.
Even if the school was begun first it could not
conceivably have been ready for use before
" Robert Willis and John Willis Clark, Arch. Hist,
of the Univ. ofCamb. i, 380-5.
11 The date is given in the second Act of Parlia-
ment passed 5 Mar. 1445-6 ; Heywood and Wright,
Statutes, 415.
14 Ibid. 414-59. Through the usual mistake of
the year of the king they call this the Parliament
of 1444.
SCHOOLS
Michaelmas 1442, and was most probably not
ready before Michaelmas 1443.
The register of Thomas Bekynton records
that on Sunday, 13 October11 1443, he was
consecrated ' in the old collegiate church of
Blessed Mary of Eton,' and ' afterwards he cele-
brated his first mass in pontificals, in the new
church of the Blessed Mary there, not yet half
built, under a tent at an altar erected directly
above the spot where King Henry VI laid the
first stone. And he held a feast in the new
fabric of the college there on the north side,
while the chambers were not yet partitioned
underneath.' That is, the chapel was not half
finished, and the chambers only had their walls up.
It is suggested by Mr. J. W. Clark that ' the
north side and chambers' referred to were the
school and chambers in the school yard which
preceded the present Long Chamber and head
master and usher's chambers and the old Lower
School underneath it. But there is good reason
to believe that they were not in the school yard
till the 1 6th century, while there is positive
evidence that the school was not finished two
years later.
There is no documentary evidence of Wayne-
flete's ever being head master. The first men-
tion of him in documents at Eton is as provost,
on 2 May 1443, when he agreed with his friend
Bekynton for the exemption of the college and
parish from his archidiaconal authority, which
is still vested in the provost ; while by deed of
10 September 1443 £i 2s. lid. a year, in lieu
of the visitation fees, was settled on the arch-
deaconry, payable out of the manor of Bledlow.
On 30 November 1 443 Wayneflete, as pro-
vost, and William Lynde, a fellow and clerk of
the works, contracted with Robert Whetelcy, the
chief carpenter, for all the carpentering work of
ten chambers on the east side of the college, of
the hall and cloisters, and for making seven
turrets, showing that the east side, though more
advanced than the north side, was not yet habit-
able. The public records bring Wayncflcte's
provostry back even further, for while the house-
hold accounts w show Henry Sever as one of the
royal chaplains receiving a gown from Christmas
1440, and at Whitsuntide 1442 receiving 4 casks
of wine as provost, at Christmas 1442 16> Wayne-
flete received a livery, described next year
as 5 yards of violet cloth as provost of Eton,
while Sever continued to receive a gown as
royal chaplain. This shows that Wayne-
flete became provost at some date between
Whitsuntide and Christmas 1442, probably at
Michaelmas, as Sever was made Chancellor of
u Bekynton'i Corresfxmdence (Roll§ Ser.), i, p. cxix.
Not Nov. as Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 19. The day is
specially said to have been the Translation of St.
Edward (the Confessor).
"• Exch. K.R. Wardrobe Accts. 19-20 Hen. VI.
"•Ibid. 2I-* Hen. VI.
Oxford towards the end of the year. This
would leave less than a year for Wayneflete to
be head master, if he ever was head master.
On 21 December 1443 Bishop Bekynton,
with the Earl of Suffolk, as commissioners of
the founder, formally gave statutes to the
college and swore Wayneflete to them as pro-
vost, who in turn took the oaths of the other
members of the college, namely 5 fellows, 2
clerks, 2 choristers, and 1 1 scholars. But it is
specially recorded that, as the buildings were not
finished, nor the full endowment received, the
king dispensed the college temporarily from the
observance of some of the statutes, viz. (i) as to
keeping the intended full number of fellows,
scholars, and poor ; (2) the fellows being only 5,
instead of 10, they were only to be bound to 5
masses a day instead of 10 ; (3) the scholars
were not required to say the prayers and adora-
tions set down for them till the morrow of the
Epiphany, ' so that meanwhile they may be in-
structed and fully informed in them,' while (4)
c as neither church nor hall, towers, chambers,
chests, common archives, keys, bursary, treasury,
nor gates were yet fully built,' the statutes relat-
ing to these were suspended. At the same time
a special statute provided that as John Clerk had
given up a sufficiently fat living (beneficio satis
competent?) to take a fellowship, he should be vice-
provost not for a year only, as the statutes or-
dained, but for life. This first and perpetual
vice-provost was another Wykehamist, a native
of Newbury, scho'ar of Winchester 1406, of
New College 1410 ; and the benefice he gave up
was that of Adderbury, Oxfordshire, one of the
richest New College livings. The proceedings
were witnessed by Richard Andrew, LL.U.,
then King's Secretary ; Walter Lyhert or Le
Hart, Provost of Oriel, and William Say, an-
other Wykehamist, then Dean of St. Paul's.
It has been constantly repeated that Wayneflete
took with him to Eton half Winchester College,
viz. 5 fellows and 35 scholars. It was reserved
for Mr. Kirby,17 an Etonian, but Bursar of Win-
chester College, to show that this was almost
certainly untrue, and quite certainly without
authority. There are no such ' gaps in the
[Winchester] Register which such a migration
would make ; only six scholars are recorded in
the margin of the Register to have quitted Win-
chester for Eton. It is possible that the number
of 35 may have been made up from the ranks of
the commoners and day-boys, but no evidence
exists as to this. Nor is it recorded of any fel-
low that he quitted it for Eton. Two old
scholars exchanged fellowships of New College
for fellowships of Eton College.' Even this
reduced statement is not quite accurate. Only
" Kirby, Annalt of Winchester Coll. (1894), 199.
In the last edition of Maxwell Lyte (1899), p. 17,
Mr. Kirby's statement has been substituted for the
older story.
'55
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
five scholars are in fact recorded as quitting
Winchester for Eton. The sixth and senior
Winchester scholar who went to Eton had
been admitted at Winchester I February 1432-3,
and had left the school for some unspecified time
before going to Eton. ' Recessit ad obsequium
primo, postea ad collegium de Eton.' He had
presumably failed to get off to New College, and
abandoned the path of learning for secular service
of some kind, presumably with some magnate,
but now returned to it, on prospect of a fellow-
ship at King's College. Also, of the two fellows
of New College mentioned by Mr. Kirby, neither
went at or near the opening of Eton. One,
Foster or Forster, went to Eton not in 1443 but
in 1453, and not as fellow but as head master ;
the other, Morer, went up to New College as a
scholar in 1443, and only became a fellow of
Eton in 1465. So that neither of these can be
reckoned in the migration. Nor is it at all
probable that the number of 35 or anything like
it was made up from commoners. As to com-
moners proper, commoners in college at Win-
chester were limited by statute to ten in number.
The hall-books of the time, showing those who
dined in hall every week, are extant. They
show that there was no clear-out of commoners.
Fauley, who appeared for the last time in hall in
the second week in October 1441, when, by the
way, Mr. William Wayneflete was dining as a
guest, showing that he had not yet gone to Eton,
though he had ceased to be head master of Win-
chester, may probably be identified with Richard
Fauley of Dorsetshire, who was elected from
Eton to King's on 26 September 1444 at the age
of sixteen. Only one other commoner, Lysle,
left during the same time. The possible migra-
tion of commoners in college is therefore limited
to two, and is probably limited to one. There
were, however, other commoners attending the
school, living in St. Elizabeth's College, next
door, and perhaps elsewhere, and there were
probably oppidans or town boys attending as day-
boys. Of these we have no record. It is not,
however, very probable that any, and it is certain
that not many, could have gone to the new school
as scholars, since only 1 1 scholars in all were
sworn to the statutes. They were Thomas
Constantin ; John Pay n, a Londoner, of St. Alban's,
Wood Street, who had been a Winchester
scholar from 1438 ; Thomas Say, a relation of
the Dean of St. Paul's ; Thomas Seggefeld ;
John Goldsmith, who went to King's next year ;
Edward Hancok, who also went to King's next
year, whom one suspects of being a relative of
Thomas Hancok of Pusey, Berkshire,a Winchester
scholar in 1447 ; Richard Fauley, from Dorset,
one of the IQ filii nobilium ; William Stock from
Warmington, Northamptonshire ; John Plentie
from Warwickshire ; and John Brown from
Berkshire, who went to King's in 1444 ; and
William Wether, who is untraced. However,
it is really remarkable to find that in a ' tradition '
of this sort there is so much substratum of fact,
that it is true to the extent of about one-six-
teenth ; and that five scholars, one ex-scholar,
and probably one commoner of Winchester did
actually go to give Eton a start, and import
Wykehamist traditions there. But of the six
scholars who went in 1443, only three were ever
more than colourably scholars at Eton. For
three of them, John Langport, Richard Cove,
and Robert Dummer, had already been admitted
scholars of King's on 19 July 1443. This was
under the second charter for that college, dated
nine days before, 10 July 1443, which converted
the rector, William Millington, into a provost,18
changed the name from St. Nicholas College to
that of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, augmented
its numbers from 12 to 70, and bound it to
Eton as New College was bound to Winchester,
so that only scholars of Eton were admissible to
it. John Langport, who came from Twyford,
now almost part of Winchester, had been at
Winchester someeleven years. Robert Dummer,19
also a Hampshire boy, had been eight years at
Winchester, and Richard Cove of Bromham,
Wiltshire, had been there seven years. They were,
therefore, Winchester 'thicks,' who, in default
of being able to get off to New College, Oxford,
were thought good enough for ' New College,
Cambridge,' as it was often called. Langport
became vice-provost of King's.20 The two other
Winchester scholars were John Payn above
mentioned, and Richard Roche of Taunton, who
must have been a boy of exceptional promise.
Admitted to Winchester in 1439, he went to
Eton on St. Margaret's Day, 20 July 1443, an<^
was too young to be sworn to the statutes in
December 1443, being only fifteen years old
when admitted a scholar of King's, 26 September
1444. He afterwards became vice-provost of
Eton.
The statutes cannot have been strictly observed
at the first election to King's in July 1 443, as the
other two out of five elected were Master Wil-
liam Chedworth, M.A., already for 20 years
fellow of Merton, Oxford, who three years
afterwards became provost of King's, and then
Bishop of Lincoln and the founder or endower
of Cirencester Grammar School ; and Thomas
Rotherham,21 afterwards Lord Chancellor, Arch-
18 Mullinger, Univ. of Camb. i, 306. Mr. Mul-
linger says that William Millington was ejected because
he objected to the exclusive connexion established with
Eton by the statutes ; but as this connexion is expressly
stated in the charter in which he is named as first provost,
the statement cannot be reconciled with the facts.
19 Misread into Dommetge by Kirby in Annals, and
also in Scholars, 57 ; a mistake naturally followed by
the Eton historian Mr. Wasey Sterry.
10 B.M. Cole MSS. 5814-7, fol. 12.
" See account of him under Rotherham College
in A. F. Leach, Early Torks. Schools, xxvii.
IS6
SCHOOLS
bishop of York, and founder of a small Eton at
Jesus College, Rotherham, in 1480, who was
already more than 19 years old.
As only those above 1 5 n had to swear to the
statutes, it looks as if even in December 1443
the school was not filled up. The completion
of the college was marked by the famous Amica-
bilis concordia or covenant of alliance between
Wykeham's two colleges of the Virgin at
Oxford and Winchester and the two royal
colleges of the Virgin of Cambridge and Eton
for mutual assistance, signed by their respective
wardens and provosts i July 1444.
The first head master mentioned at Eton is
William Westbury, in the Bursars' or Audit Roll of
1444-5, which is the earliest preserved. Now
William Westbury was an old pupil of Wayne-
flete's. He was in all probability son of William
Westbury, serjeant-at-law, who appears in the
Winchester Bursars' Roll for 1423-488 receiving
half a mark as leader of several counsel in an action
about some Andover property of that college,
and was a judge of the King's Bench in 1426.
He came from Westbury, Wiltshire, where he
endowed a chantry. The son is described as of
Alresford, when admitted a ' poor and needy '
scholar of Winchester in 1428-9. He went on
to New College in 1433. The New College
records report him as leaving his fellowship **
'in the month of May 1442, transferring him-
self to the King's service.' It can hardly be
doubted that the royal service to which he was
transferred was that of head master, and, it is
contended, first head master of the royal col-
lege. The Audit Roll of 1444-5 shows indeed,
by its beginning with 'arrears ' or surplus received
from the bursars of the preceding year, that it was
not the first, though the small amount of the sur-
plus, £3 3*. id., compared with one of j£54 odd
carried over to the next year, and other entries,
make it probable that it was only the second
roll ; and that nothing like the full income had
been received in 1443—4.
The Dictionary of National Biography avoids
all difficulties as to the opening of Eton School
and the first head master by the assertion that
Wayneflete was ' in the first charter of Eton, 1 1
October 1440, nominated a fellow and removed
to Eton in 1442. A class-room was then open,
but the pupils were lodged in private houses.'
The first two statements are, as we have seen,
wrong. Wayneflete was not named in the
charter of 1440, and he left Winchester in
1441. The last two statements may be true,
but no authority for them now exists, nor is
any cited.
0 When the Winchester boyi were iworn to their
statutes in 1400, 36 out of 70 took the oath.
" The protocol* of admission of fellows show that
his successor was admitted ' in loco Willelmi West-
bury transferentis se ad obsequium," to which another
hand has added ' regis."
The statutes given to the two royal colleges in
1 443 made them now like the two Wykehamical
colleges. As the statutes, in words copied from
those of Winchester, say : ' Though situate in
different places, they come from one stem, and
originally issue from one spring ; they do not
differ in substance, and so naturally do not
produce different effects.' The statutes of Eton
are in fact a mere transcript of those of Win-
chester, mutatis mutandis. Even the mutanda
are limited to the narrowest possible changes,
such as the substitution of Eton for Winchester,
Cambridge for Oxford, and Henry VI for
William of Wykeham, the very title of the
Patron Saint, Our Lady of Eton, being closely
adapted from Our Lady of Winchester. The
adaptation of the statutes is much closer even
than that made by Chicheley for his own
college of All Souls, though that is close enough,
or by Wayneflete himself for Magdalen College.
The whole 45 statutes of Winchester, with
the preamble, called in the Eton copy the
Mem et Intentio fundatoris, and the solemn ' end
and conclusion of all the statutes,' appear
verbatim et literatim, for the most part, in the
Eton statutes. These number 62, however,
because the preamble and conclusion are num-
bered as statutes, and nine statutes were added
for the almsmen, not included at Winchester,
and destined quickly to disappear from Eton.
Mr. Mullinger's remark in his History of Cam-
bridge University, ' The Latinity ... is more
correct, and copious to a fault, and there is also
to be noted an increased power of expression,' is
not easy to understand. The expressions are
identical, even to the anachronistic repetition in
the King's College statutes of the Black Death
and its successors in 1361 and 1368 as having
caused a dearth of properly educated clerics, for
which Chicheley in the statutes for All Souls
substituted the more up-to-date cause of the wars
between England and France. The corporate
title bestowed on the college was markedly
different. Instead of being ' the Warden and
Scholars Clerks ' (scolares cleric!), it was the Pro-
vost and College (Prepositus et Collegium). The title
of provost was substituted for warden, undoubt-
edly by way of distinction from Winchester.
That title, and not rector or master, was no
doubt chosen because the head of the college of
St. Elizabeth, which stood next door to the
college at Winchester and is now part of it, was
called provost, as was also the head of King's
Hall (Oriel) at Oxford, a post held by John
Carpenter, who took some part in the foundation,
and was consecrated Bishop of Worcester in
Eton Chapel, and the head of Queen's College,
founded next after Oriel. The corporate body
was almost the same as at Winchester, being
a provost and 70 scholars with 10 fellow* and 16
choristers. But there were ten instead of only
three hired chaplains, who from being ctnductitii tt
'57
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
remotivi, hired and removable, instead of holding
freehold offices, were and are called conducts,
10 chapel clerks instead of three, while 13
poor youths, scholars, and 13 almsmen had
no precursor at Winchester. The increase of
chaplains and clerks was to augment the splen-
dour of the services. Of the 10 clerks four
were to be honest men, of good conduct, skilled in
reading, psalming and singing, skilled also in part-
singing('etiam cantu organico24 peritiam habentes')
with voices of equal power (' in vocibus similiter
bene dispositi '), one of whom at least was to know
how to improvise on the organ (jubilare in
organis), and he alone of all the clerks of the
college, if another could not be had, was allowed
to be a married man. The organist in Italy
is to this day often a layman, though a cleric
is preferred. There was also to be a parish
clerk who was able to teach the grammar
scholars, and a vestry clerk, each of whom were
to receive five marks extra. The tale of ten
was made up of four gentlemen clerks (clerici
generoii) who were to sit at the first dinner at a
gentlemen's table (' in primis refectionibus ad
aliquam mensam generosorum ') with the chap-
lains, and were to be taught part-singing, their
instructor having £6 and three others to have
six marks. There were also added 13 poor
youths, between 15 and 20 years old at the
time of their admission, who were to be taken
from the outside scholars (i.e. oppidans) of the
college, who were to act as chamber-servants to
the provost, fellows, and head master, and to ring
the bells, but were also by the instruction of
their masters and attendance in the grammar
school to render themselves fit in learning to
take holy orders, ' for which reason above all we
have thought good that they should be admitted
to our college royal.'
The school, the grammar school as it was
called, though the main object of the college,
only occupies six whole statutes and small por-
tions of eight others, out of the total of sixty-two
statutes. The bulk of these statutes was occu-
pied with the duties of the warden, bursars,
fellows, chaplains, and others, the conduct of the
church services and the obits for the soul of the
founder.
The provisions for the school differed little
from those at Winchester. As there the master
teacher (Magister Informator) was the second
person in the college, sitting at the upper table
in hall above the fellows (except the vice-provost,
14 Not ' singing to the organ.' The organ was not
used with the singing, but between the singing parts,
till after the Reformation ; it was played with the foot,
and the great object was ' to make a joyful noise
before the Lord ' (Jubilare in organis). On the other
hand, the organum, still called in Spain canto de organo,
an organ being always in the plural organa, is part-
singing unaccompanied ; cf. f.C.H. Lines, ii. C. F.
Abdy Williams in Musical Times, Feb. 1 907.
who changed every year), and sitting according
to his academical degree in the church ; whence
perhaps the custom of becoming D.D. or D.C.L.,
the latter more common in old days. His
stipend was 24 marks or £16 a year, as against
£10 for the fellows and £30 for the provost.
His commons (stat. 1 5) were at the same rate
as the fellows', viz., iQd. a week or ^4 6s. 8d.
a year ; there being also allowance to the whole
table of is. id. on twenty-five days for augmenta-
tion. His livery of cloth, which was to be
black or dark grey, was 6 yds. at 35. $d. a yd.,
or £i. He might have one of the youths
(juvenes) as servant (stat. 10), who was to be
found commons and livery by the college, and
to receive such wages as the master agreed on
with him. The qualifications of the master were
simply to be 'sufficiently learned in grammar,
having experience of teaching,' with an addition
not found in the Winchester statutes, a testi-
mony to the growth of the University, and the
increased supply of M.A.'s, that he shall be 'a
master in arts, if such can be conveniently
gotten, by no means married, or beneficed in any
college, chapel or church with cure of souls
within 7 miles of our college of Eton.' The
usher (kostiarius), who, as at Winchester, was
only to be 'sufficiently learned in grammar,'
without previous experience in teaching, was to
have the additional qualification of being un-
married, not in holy orders, ' a bachelor of arts if
such can be conveniently had.' Master and
usher were ' to assiduously instruct and teach the
scholars of the said college in grammar, and at-
tentively supervise their life and conduct ;
punishing the idlers and offenders without par-
tiality, with this caution that in chastisement
they no way exceed moderation ' — a caution
which favourably distinguished Wykeham from
many previous and later school legislators, who
were more anxious to get the boys well flogged
than careful to prevent their being too much
flogged. As at Winchester, both master and
usher were strictly forbidden ' to presume to
exact, ask or claim in any way anything from
any of the scholars or their parents or friends for
their labour about the said scholars bestowed or
to be bestowed by reason or occasion of such
instruction." In other words, the school was a
free grammar school.
The contemplated pay ot the masters was
decidedly on a higher scale than that laid down
at Winchester. The provost had ^30 instead
of j£2o, the master 24 marks (j£i6) as against
£10, and the usher 10 marks as against 5 marks
(£6 13*. 4-d. instead of £3 6s. 8d.). A similar
rise took place in the salary fixed for St. An-
thony's School, London, for which statutes were
made by Wayneflete and Say in 1447. However,
the loss of endowment under Edward IV pre-
vented these figures being realized, and the salary
of the head master of Eton was in practice only
158
SCHOOLS
the same as at Winchester, £10. The allow-
ances for commons were raised, as compared with
Winchester, from is. in ordinary times and is. 6d.
in time of scarcity, to is. 6d. in ordinary times
and 21. in times of scarcity. For some reason,
however, the livery of cloth for gowns was
reduced in amount, the master having 6 yards
instead of 8, and the usher 5 yards, the same as
at Winchester. They were obliged, however,
only to keep their gowns for one year instead of
five years, as at Winchester. A similar advance
was noticeable in the arrangement as to cham-
bers. While at Winchester the master and
usher, and, if necessary, another priest, were to
share a chamber, and the fellows were to sleep
three in a room ; at Eton each fellow and the
head master were to have separate rooms, and
the hostiaritu and chaplains were to be two in a
room.
Besides the master and usher provision was
made for an assistant master, it being provided
that the chapel clerk, who acted as parish clerk,
should also be able to teach the grammarians.
His pay was 5 marks (£3 6s. 8^.), and his
commons i$d. a week.
The provisions as to the scholars were in
identical terms with those at Winchester ; that
is, they were to be 70 in number, poor and needy
(pauperes tt indigentes], between eight and twelve
years old at the time of election, completely
instructed in reading, plainsong, and grammar ;
with a proviso that anyone under seventeen
might be elected if he showed promise of being
sufficiently learned in grammar by the time he
was eighteen. They were to be born in Eng-
land, with preference for those coming from
places and counties in which the college had
property. But there were two additions not
present in the Winchester statutes, viz. that
' regard was to be had to the choristers ' of Eton
and King's, ' whom on account of their labours
and services rendered in the said royal colleges it
is right should according to their merits be pre-
ferred to those who are on a par with them in
the conditions and qualities above-mentioned,' but
* no villein (nativus) or illegitimate ' was to be
admitted.
The provisions as to examination for college
at Winchester had specially included ' other boys
and the choristers of the chapel there' to be
examined, and as a matter of fact, till the reign
of Henry VIII at least, nearly all the choristers
did get into college. In this respect, therefore,
the definite preference given for choristers was
only a legalization and extension of existing
practice. Whether the exclusion of those who
were unfree was also in accordance with practice at
Winchester, and not a retrograde provision, is a
moot point. When Wykeham first started his
school, about 1370, and when he definitely en-
dowed it in 1382, it is probable that no one
would have thought the son of a slave or a bonds-
man eligible for a scholarship at Winchester any
more than he ordinarily was for the priesthood,
though it is to be observed that in 1 3 1 2 a fellow
of Merton, Master Walter of Merton in Oxford,
received manumission from the Cathedral Priory
of Durham.1* But by the rejection of a Bill sent
up by the Commons in 1392, excluding villeins'
sons from schools, Richard II, or his advisers,
threw the school doors open to them. As a
sequel to the Peasants' Revolt, by the time of
Henry VI the number of bondsmen was much
reduced, so that exclusion of the unfree, while
at all events not a liberal measure, was not so
illiberal as it would have been in the 141(1 cen-
tury. One danger in the selection of its scholars
Eton escaped by having a royal founder ; the
absolute right of admission and the special privi-
leges given to kin of the founder, which in the
1 7th century nearly ruined Winchester, were
absent from the Eton statutes.
The electing body was the same, mutatis
mutandis, as at Winchester; the provost of
King's, with two fellows called posers (i.e.
opposers or apposers), came to Eton between
the translation of Thomas Becket (7 July) and
the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August), and
with the provost and vice-provost and head
master of Eton held a scrutiny to detect anything
amiss in the conduct of the college, and then
examined and elected the Eton boys to King's,
and the choristers and others for admission to
Eton, putting their names on a roll, those named
being admitted in order as vacancies occurred.
The scholars of Eton were to dwell in the
ground-floor chambers of the inner quadrangle
with three prefects or prepostors in each cham-
ber. It is a moot point with the Eton historians
whether they ever did so, or whether Long
Chamber, in which the whole 70 slept in one
barrack-like room, was original or only an inno-
vation, dating from the time when the west side
of the inner quadrangle and Lupton's Tower was
devoted to the provost by Provost Lupton at the
end of the reign of Henry VII. It seems,
however, wholly incredible that the statutes,
which were altered from those of Winchester in
every minute point in which circumstances were
altered, would have been retained unaltered on so
important a point of school life as the chambers,
if so great an alteration had been made as to sub-
stitute one large chamber for six smaller ones.
The words in the Winchester statutes as to
chambers, directing the ' great house ' below Hall
to be used as a school — it is now Seventh Cham-
ber— and the prohibition of wrestling, dancing,
jumping, singing, and shouting in Hall, because it
was over school, are omitted from the Eton
statutes, because Hall at Eton was a separate
* Rtg. Palat. Duntlm. (Rolls Ser.), 97. At late as
the day* of Elizabeth a manumission ii found of a
fellow of Exeter College and his family.
'59
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
building outside the quadrangle, while the pro-
vision as to the master and usher having the
north-west corner for their chamber was also
omitted because they had separate chambers.
The fact that the provisions as to the boys'
chambers remained the same as at Winchester is
conclusive proof that at first the masters and the
boys were not in the outer but in the inner
quadrangle, and lived not in one but in seven
several chambers, the 16 choristers occupying
one, and the 70 scholars the other six.
It should be observed that the cost of the com-
mons of the scholars was raised from 8d. a week
at Winchester to is. T>d. a week. As for livery,
while at Winchester white, black, russet, and
grey gowns were expressly prohibited, because
of the black, white, russet, and grey monks,
canons, and friars who swarmed there, at Eton
the gowns were ordered to be black or dark
grey, there being no regulars near for whom the
scholars could be mistaken. At first the cloth
for the gowns was bought at Winchester.
Tunics worn under the gown are mentioned.
There is no direct evidence what the dress
was like. A portrait in brass of John Stonor, of
29 August 151 5,26 at Wraysbury on the
Thames, is now commonly cited as that of a
scholar of Eton and as showing what the dress
was then. But it is quite certain that the brass
in question does not show the dress of an Eton
scholar, and it is almost certain that the subject
was not an Etonian at all. The Rev. Herbert
Haines, second master of Gloucester Cathedral
Grammar School, in his Monumental Brasses,
published in 1 86 1,27 is responsible for saying,
without giving any reason, ' It probably exhibits
the dress of an Eton scholar.' Subsequent
writers on brasses, including the latest,28 have
converted the ' probably ' into a positive assertion
that it is that of an Eton scholar. There is,
however, no evidence to show that John or any
other Stonor ever was an Eton scholar. His
name is not in any Eton list yet known, pub-
lished or otherwise. Even if he was, there is no
reason except the somewhat small dimensions of
the brass for supposing that the brass is that of a
boy. It is now well established from the cele-
brated brasses at Salisbury and Winchester, once
supposed to be those of boy-bishops, that the
small size of a figure is no indication of the
small size of the subject. Stonor's figure is
certainly not that of a person in statu pupillari.
It is clad in a long gown with a white fur border
down the middle and at the bottom. By
sumptuary laws, the latest of which, at Stonor's
* The inscription is : ' Here lyeth John Stonor, the
sone of Walter Stoner, squyer, that departed this
world ye xxix day of August in yere of our lord
mdcxv.'
" p. Ixxxvi.
18 Herbert Drewitt, A Manual of Costume as Illus-
trated by Monumental Brasses (1906), 14.2.
date, was I Henry VIII, cap. 14 (1509-10), no
schoolboy, certainly no pauper et indigent scolaris,
would have been allowed to wear fur, which was
restricted to the upper ranks of laymen and the
upper orders of clerics and academics. More-
over the figure portrayed has on the head a hood
close-fitting to the face, with liripips or streamers
behind, and above it a round cap, also of fur or
bound with fur, which are almost certainly the
hood and cap (pileuni) of a doctor of laws.
Schoolboys went bareheaded, as was still the
custom at Winchester 30 years ago in the
college precinct, and at Christ's Hospital still.
John Stonor's brass gives therefore no indication
of the dress of a scholar of Eton.
In the absence of any other evidence we may
therefore assume that the scholars of Eton were
dressed like the scholars of Winchester, in a long
gown with a low collar 29 buttoned at the neck,
and closed in front and hanging down to the
heels, which may be seen in the brass in Head-
bourne Worthy, Hants, of 'John Kent once
scholar of the New college of Wynchestre and
son of Simon Kent of Reading,' who died in
1434. The present gown at Winchester only
differs from this in that the sleeve now does not
go down to the wrist, but is cut short up at the
elbow and puffed, and the gown is now worn
open, except by a junior when speaking to a
master, but when closed it is still held by only
one button at the neck. At Eton the sign of
superannuation used to be the cutting of the top
button, letting the two sides of the gown fall
open apart from each other. But the modern
Eton gown is, as at Oxford, a garment not worn
always, but only in school and chapel, and then
donned over ordinary modern dress. It is
strange to find that, in spite of the statutes, the
colour of the gowns was in 1446-7 30 blue ; in
1447-8 'mustre devillers,' which is striped blue
and yellow ; in 1458 partly plain, partly rayed
(stragulatam). In 1567-8 russet was bought in
London ' for schollars lyvyrye.'
Besides scholars there were from the first at
Eton, as at Winchester, commoners in college
(commensales in collegia). By an almost casual
entry at the end of a statute forbidding strangers
to be lodged in college, except (and that for two
days at a time only) parents or friends of
scholars, Wykeham said : ' We allow however
that sons of noble and powerful persons, special
friends of the college, may, to the number of ten,
be instructed in grammar and educated in the
19 In A. F. Leach, Hist, of Winchester Coll. this was
misdescribed, from the drawing given of it in Ann. of
Winchester Coll. as a high collar, the line of the chin
being mistaken for part of the collar. The illustra-
tion in the article by him on ' Schools ' in V.C.H.
Hants, ii, 274, shows clearly the collar the same
as in the present Winchester gowns.
30 Eton Aud. R. 25 & 26 Hen. VI. This is the
second extant roll.
160
SCHOOLS
college without burden to the college ; so that it
be without prejudice, damage, or scandal to the
members of the college.' The same words were
used at Eton, but the number was doubled,
twenty extranet commensales or tabling strangers
being admissible. ' Noble ' of course had not the
limited sense now given to it, but included all
of gentle birth, squires and country gentlemen —
in fact anyone who bore arms.
Lastly, over and above all these the school was
open as a Free Grammar School to all coming to
it from all parts of England. In this respect
Eton was unlike Winchester and like the
ordinary grammar school. At Winchester no
provision was made for outsiders, probably be-
cause there was already an existing high school
or city grammar school in the town, of imme-
morial antiquity, to which outsiders could go,
and for trenching on the monopoly of which, by
admitting scholars and gentlemen-commoners at
all, Wykeham thought it necessary to get a papal
bull. In point of fact, however, outsiders were
admitted. For a rescript by Bishop Beaufort,
Wykeham's successor in the see of Winchester,
IO April 1412, states the 'the master is con-
tinually instructing and educating in grammar
80 or 100 outsiders in our college, contrary to
the pious intention of the founder,' and ' because
one master is not enough to teach so large a
number,' he forbade the warden ' to admit any
outsider beyond the number limited by the
statutes to be taught grammar in the college, or
allow them to be admitted without your (the
warden's) special licence.' This licence must,
however, have been freely given. Extant
accounts of the provost of St. Elizabeth's College,
which stood where the warden's garden now is,
show the admission in 1400 of commoners, and
the next extant accounts in 1455 and 1460-4
show commoners of whom some are specifically
stated to be attending school in ' New College,'
as Winchester, like its sister college at Oxford,
was then called. Wayneflete no doubt had
himself taught these commoners at Winchester.
Convinced, therefore, of the advantage of them,
he ensured their admission at Eton, not at the
mercy of the provost, but by adding to the
master's salary and making it his duty to admit
them free and giving the boys an absolute right
to come. There was, however, at Eton no St.
Elizabeth's College and no Sisters' Hospital, one
on each side of the college, to board them under
care, and no city to receive them into lodgings,
but only a village with a few houses. Yet so
important was the admission of outsiders deemed,
that, by a patent of 20 June 1444, Henry VI
forbade the providers of victuals for the king's
household to take any property of the college or
of the parishioners of Eton for the king's use, or
to billet anyone in Eton against the will of the
provost, and declared ' that all the inns (hosf>itia)y
houses, and mansions in the town and parish of
Eton shall be specially reserved for the boys and
scholars coming together there for their educa-
tion (diidplina) and others coming there for any
reason connected with the college, at the discre-
tion of the provost or his deputy, so that no one
else shall lodge there either himself or anyone
else without their leave.' So that the whole
town of Eton was placed under the rule of the
provost and reserved for the school. Moreover,
on 12 March 1444-5 a" lands and tenements
in Eton were granted to the college, and to
ensure a supply of provisions two fairs, one for
three days after the Carnival, the other for four
days after the Assumption of the Virgin
(15 August), were established. In the same
spirit it is said 31 that by patent 24 Henry VI
the grammar school of the college was given a
monopoly, and no other school was allowed in
Eton or within 10 miles of it.
The absence of any indication whatever of
the time-table or curriculum of the school in all
the voluminous statutes might be thought strange
were it not that a similar absence of detail is
characteristic of school foundations in every age.
Indeed, the latest formula of the Board of Edu-
cation for school curriculum is merely to say
that ' instruction shall be given in such subjects
proper to be taught in a Public Secondary School
as the governors in consultation with the head
master may from time to time think fit.' The
Eton curriculum was summed up in the one
word ' grammar,' taught in a way to fit the
scholars for the university. There is no specific
evidence to show what grammar included or
how it was taught at Eton for nearly a century
after the foundation. But we know** that
grammar meant Latin grammar and the Latin
classics, with composition both in Latin prose
and Latin verse, and conversation carried on in
the Latin tongue, both in and out of school.
Besides this, the Eton statutes go in one respect
into rather more detail than those of Winchester,
in that they direct (stat. 14) that ' the master,
or, in his absence, the usher, is to make a dispu-
tation in grammar, to be publicly held in the
nave of the collegiate church or the cloister of
the same, or other fit place, on the day of the
Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr, by some
advanced scholar of the royal college in the
presence of all the boys learning grammar and of
all others coming there — he to be answered in
the accustomed manner by another scholar.'
This institution of a Speech Day was no doubt
not a new thing in schools. The reference to
its being held in the cloister shows that it was
modelled at all events on Winchester practice,
" B.M. Sloane MSS. 4840, fol. 313. I am bound
to say that I have failed to find the patent in question.
" e.g. by the regulations for Grammar Schools and
Grammar Schoolmasters at Oxford in Oxford Uni-
versity Statutes.
ibi
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
where in the summer the upper classes at least
were held in cloisters, and the summer term was
and is still called Cloister Time ; while the dis-
putation in grammar prevailed at Westminster
election till half way through the igth century.
A curious ' Memorandum ' on the Eton Election
Roll for I468,33 that ' Kercy,' whose name ap-
pears in the body of the roll as Kersey, but with-
out the usual details of age and place of birth,
' is not found in the examination papers,' appears
to show that the examination was really com-
petitive, and that written papers were set in it.
The use of the word ' examinations,' not ' elec-
tion,' and the plural number seems to negative
the idea that the missing papers were merely this
boy's application for election.
But as to what subjects the examination was
in, besides Donatus or the accidence and plain
chant, we are left to guess. But there can be
little doubt that a very considerable amount of
real classics was done. The now well-known
letter of William Paston, written 23 February
1479, when an oppidan about nineteen years
old, living in a dame's house — he calls her ' my
hostess ' — under the tuition of a fellow, Thomas
Stevenson, concludes thus : ' And as for my
coming from Eton, I lack nothing but versifying,
which I trust to have with a little continuance.
Quare u quo modo non valet hora valet mora ?
Unde di[citur]
Arbore jam videas exemplum. Non die possunt
Omnia suppleri, sed tamen ilia mora.
And these two verses aforesaid be of mine own
making.'
The false quantity in making the e in ' die '
short is shocking to the modern classical scholar;
but it must be remembered that Paston was only
an oppidan, and was already spending his time
attending weddings and falling in love with a
young lady from London, to whom the bulk of
the letter is devoted. The verses, however, on
the monument of William Westbury, the first
head master, who died in 1472, would perhaps
be equally startling to the modern master : —
Nate Dei patrls," anime miserere Wilhelmi
Westburi cujns ossa sub hoc lapide
Condita sunt ; natus erat et nutritus in Alford,
Wintonie juvenis grammaticam didicit.
Oxonie studuit, et in artibus ille magister
Etone pueros grammaticam docuit.
Inde theologus est hie functus Prepositura,
Tolle decem menses, lustra per integra sex.
83 ' Memorandum, quod non inventus in papiris
examinacionum Kercy.'
31 ' Why, when the hour does not avail, does delay
avail f ' This is the theme set by the master. The
words ' on which it is said ' usher in the boy's
answer : ' You may see an example in a tree. Every-
thing cannot be supplied in a day, but it is by
waiting.'
" ' Son of God the Father, have mercy on the soul
of William Westbury, whose bones are buried under
this stone. He was born and bred at Alresford, at
The lengthening of the syllables marked was
not done in the golden age of Latin elegiacs,
though it is probable that in the third line erat
had been misread for fait. But hexameters and
pentameters were a mere exotic in Latin. The
authors on whom Westbury was brought up were
probably largely the authors of the bronze age, or
of even baser metal, the Christian poets of the
4th and 5th centuries, Sedulius and Juvencus and
Prudentius, whom Colet even half a century I
later regarded as models of pure Latinity ; and
they exercised equal or even greater licence,
even making the o of the ablative short, as if it
was the modern Italian o. The practice in this
respect of some ten centuries was probably
nearer the real pronunciation than the narrower
rules which prevailed in the single century of
the golden age of Roman literature.
We may now revert to a regular chrono-
logical order of history. The evidence already
given points to the school beginning, not in
October 1442, when Wayneflete left Winches-
ter, but at Midsummer 1443, when he was
already provost. Even then it began with a
very scanty number, which was increased at the
election of 1444 ; but the full complement was not
made up, as the Audit Roll of 1444—5 shows,
till the election of 1445. That roll records the
purchase of 370^ yds. of linen 'for sheets,
shirts and other necessaries for scholars and
choristers,' out of which thirty pairs of sheets were
made ; while fifteen canvases were bought and a
cart-load of straw to fill them, and 82 yds. of
woollen cloth for blankets (lodicibus), showing that
the scholars did not, as has been alleged, lie in
straw, but on straw mattresses with all the para-
phernalia of modern beds. In that year, too,
sixty-three gowns and hoods were made by two
tailors, the cloth for which was bought at
Winchester from Thomas Filde, draper, as it
was every year till 1476, after which it was
bought at St. Bartholomew's Fair, London. The
record of the weekly commons shows a sudden in-
crease from 46 in the third week, and 58 'scholars,
choristers, and servants,' the latter meaning the
12 pueri servientes, in the twelfth week, to 84 in
the thirteenth week. The cause of this accession
of numbers is to be found in the first regular elec-
tion of scholars on 26 September I444.36 Then
seven scholars from Eton were elected to King's,
headed by the ex- Winchester scholar, Richard
Roche of Tawnton (Taunton in Somerset), who
was only fifteen, while three others were nineteen,
one eighteen, and Richard Fauley, the ex-Win-
Winchester as a youth he learnt grammar, he studied
at Oxford, and as a master in arts taught boys gram-
mar at Eton. Then, becoming a theologian (i.e.
D.D.), he discharged the office of provost here for 6
whole lustra (30 years), less ten months.'
56 This and the following rolls, the existence of
which was previously unknown, were discovered by the
writer in searching for the Audit Rolls.
162
SCHOOLS
Chester commoner, sixteen years old. Two
came from Somerset, two from Dorset, one each
from Hanpshire, Berkshire, and Warwickshire.
No fewer than 25 were elected to Eton. They
were headed by Richard Denman from the
county of Durham, who had already attained
the extreme age allowed, of seventeen years,
while a Yorkshire boy, John Freeman, was six-
teen. On the other hand, one from Eton itself
and one from London were only ten years old.
The rest ranged from twelve to fifteen years of
age. It would almost appear that the widest
possible range was purposely taken, no county
contributing more than two boys, except York-
shire, which sent five; but of these one came from
York and one from each of the three Ridings
other than the West Riding, which sent two.
Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Hertford-
shire each contributed two scholars ; while Lon-
don, Cambridgeshire, Devonshire, Gloucester-
shire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex,
Northamptonshire, Surrey, Somerset, and West-
morland each contributed a single scion. The
names of Yarborough (Yarbrow) from Lincoln-
shire, Catesby from Northamptonshire, Bower
from Yorkshire, Salkeld from Westmorland, and
Dorman from Leicestershire, all county families —
and no doubt to those having local knowledge
many of the other names — show that the words
pauperes indigentes by no means meant, as has
sometimes been asserted, the ' poor and needy '
in the sense in which it is used nowadays, in the
Poor Law sense, but included the younger sons
of the upper middle classes, ' those who without
help could not keep their sons at the universi-
ties.' The next election roll forthcoming is
that for 1446, and contains 35 names of those
' nominated to the college royal.' If they were
all admitted, this year, when the school was built
and the college practically finished, marks the
final filling of the college to its full number.
The age in this roll is much lower than that of
previous elections, the eighteenth on the list
being only eight, while the fourth and fifth were
ten years old, and none of the first 18 were over
fourteen years of age. No fewer than 6 of them
were Londoners ; the rest came from Bedford-
shire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire,
Kent, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxford-
shire. In the next extant roll, that for 1453, a
distinction is drawn between those ' elected and
admitted ' (aisumptorum) on 3 August, and those
' elected, nominated, and to be admitted ' (assum-
endorum). The former list consisted of 15
names ; the latter contained no fewer than 65,
of whom not a tenth could have been actually
admitted. The name of Nicholas Wallop of
Farleigh, aged eleven, of the ancient Hampshire
family now represented by the Earl of Portsmouth,
shows what the status of the poor and indigent
scholars was. Counties so distant as Cornwall
and Derbyshire sent representatives.
In 1444-5 tne college had got into working
order, with William Westbury as head master
and Thomas Chaunterie as first usher, while two
clerks, Henry Sulbyand Henry Warde, instructed
in singing. The endowment was not yet com-
pleted, the total income of £946 8;. $\d. being
made up by three gifts 'of the most gracious
Founder' of jTi 20, of £i 8 provided by the pro-
vost, and another £18 the proceeds of the con-
tributions at the Assumption of the Virgin ; but
as the staff of confessors, who with their servants
occupied thirty beds, and the entertainment of
strangers cost £29 19;. 3/f., the bulls for the feast
were a losing speculation. This year saw the
erection of the school, ' a house and two chambers
at the end of the same (the old church), inside
the precinct of the college, to teach the gram-
mar scholars in,"7 at a cost of £71 16*. 9^., or
some £2,150 of our money. With its two class-
rooms it was 70 ft. long by 24 ft. broad, or about
5 ft. narrower, but 25 ft. longer, than the magna
domus which formed the school at Winchester.
The total area was 1,680 square ft. as against
1,350. At 12 square ft. each this gives room
for 140 boys, which would leave room for only
about 2O oppidans. But with the closer packing
of those days, allowing I o square ft. each, some
50 oppidans, making 190 in all, might have been
admitted. However tight the packing, it could
not in any case have been contemplated that
oppidans should be in the majority, as against
the 119 members of the college. The college
precinct was completed by ' making gates in the
paling round ' it, i.e. the outer gate, at a cost
of £8 1 8*. -id. Next year the almshouse was
built in the outer quadrangle, probably where
Uoper School now is ; it was finished in the
following year. The Old Hall mentioned in
the accounts was also in 1445—6 in course of
being superseded by the present hall, the chief
mason going to consult the Marquis of Suffolk
on its 'making' in November 1445—6. It
was in use before Midsummer 1449, though
it was not till 1450 that 'storied glass' (vitri
bistorialis) was placed in its windows. In its
dimensions, 82 ft. by 32 ft., it was distinctly
intended to surpass that of Winchester, which
was only some 63 ft. by 30 ft., though, oddly
enough, it was smaller than that of New College,
87 ft. by 35 ft.
In 1446-7 the total number of 'scholars
choristers and servitors ' was raised from 86 to
1 06, the total possible being 109, viz. 70
scholars, 1 6 choristers, and 13 servitors. The
usher had changed, William Child or Chylde, a
17 Willis and Clark, op. cit. i, 403. ' In divcrsis custi-
bus pro factura et nova construccionc cuiusdam domus
et duarum camerarum ad finem eiusdem infra pro-
cinctura dicti collcgii pro scolaribus gramatice intus
informandis.' This Mr. Clark translates ' to teach
the scholars grammar in,' but the proper translation is
as given in the text.
163
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Winchester scholar in 1437 an^ fellow of New
College, having succeeded Chaunterie at or
before Michaelmas 1446. The provost's pay
was now increased to ^75 a year by the addition
of £25 a year instead of the rectory of Eton.
The total income was ,£1,536, but as the
roll is imperfect we do not know how much
came from endowment or whether any of it
came from gifts by the king. It is to be noted
that on Maundy Thursday the ' Founder's
alms ' cost no less than £12 5*. 8d., some ^370
in our money ; among the items being 7 casks of
red herrings and 400 white herrings, a dozen
(? casks) of ale, while a penny each was given to
no less than 1,000 poor, and 13, probably the
almsmen, had 4^. apiece. No less than 5,600
wafers (panibus) were consumed in the church
during the year, a number which in 1447—8 in-
creased to 8,450. 8o£ ells of Flanders and 43
ells of Brabant, with 38 ells of unnamed linen,
were bought for table-cloths, and 28 ells of
diaper for napkins for the hall, so that the 15th-
century frequenters of halls lived in no less
gentlemanly a way than their successors. An
interesting item is ' 9 green boughs of " cero " for
the adornment of the hall on St. John Baptist's
(Midsummer) day ' ; on which day later rolls
show that it was customary to set up a great
candle in hall painted green and- red, ' turmyn-
tyne' and 'vermelon' being bought in 1449 for
the feast, and in later years ' verdegris ' and ' ver-
milion,' while ' talwode ' was provided for a
' bonefyre ' on the eve of the day, as also on the
eves of St. Peter and St. Paul on 29 June and the
Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr (Becket)
on 7 July. For the boy bishop is. 6d. was ex-
pended on making his rochet (in factura unius
rochet ordinate pro episcopo Nicolaiensi). That re-
paired in 1507—8 at a cost of lid. (pro repara-
tlone le rochet pro episcopo puerorum) was a later gift
of Canon Denton, an old Etonian. The boy-
bishop is called by the Elizabethan master,
Malim, episcopus Nibilensis, which Sir Henry
Maxwell • Lyte has translated ' a bishop of
nothingness ' instead of ' a bishop Nicholas,' i.e.
Santa Claus. The boy-bishop ceremonial, which
appears to be a Christian adaptation of a custom
at the Roman Saturnalia of the slave sitting in
the place of the master and the master doing the
duty of the servant, was expressly authorized at
Eton by statute, with a curious and not easily
explicable variation from the similar Winchester
statute. Wykeham, after directing the fellows
and chaplains to do duty on certain saints' days,
said, ' We allow, however, that on the feast of
Innocents the boys may say and celebrate vespers,
matins, and other divine offices read or chanted
after the use and custom of the church of
.Sarum.' The age seems to have grown more
scrupulous in the interval ; for Henry VI said,
•*on which day (St. Nicholas, 6 December), and
jnot by any means on the teast of the Holy
Innocents, we allow divine service, except the
sacred portions of the mass, to be performed and
said by a boy-bishop of the scholars, to be elected
among them yearly for the purpose.' It is easy
to see the objection of the pious king to the
mummery of the boy-bishop performing even the
most sacred portions of the mass, but it is not
easy to see why the performance was transferred
to St. Nicholas's Day. Perhaps it was not horror
at the indignity offered to the Holy Innocents,
but for the greater dignity of his own birthday and
patron saint that the change was made. It will
be seen that Eton being in the diocese of
Lincoln, whose chief saint was the boy Hugh,
one of the numerous alleged blood-offerings of
the Jews, the election was held on his day, 1 7
November, and the celebration on St. Nicholas's
Day. Even in the reign of Elizabeth the day was
kept with cakes and wine.
It is strange that there is no mention in the
accounts of 1446-7 of the great event of the year,
the passing of Provost Wayneflete to the throne of
Winchester, though they do record a payment to
the ex-usher, Mr. Thomas Chauntrie, and another,
' for their labours about the induction of the new
Provost.' Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Win-
chester, died 1 1 April 1447, and Henry VI having
written the same day to the conventual chapter
of Winchester to elect William Wayneflete as
his successor, he was duly elected on 13 April.
By 6 May he was with the king at Winchester.
In July he was consecrated in Eton Church,
when his old college of Winchester gave him a
horse at a cost of £6 13*. 4<£, and the warden,
sub-warden, and others rode over to Eton to pre-
sent it, and gave ' the boys of the College royal of
Eton 135. 4</.,' or about i\d. each. Even if
multiplied by thirty times to get an approximate
equivalent of the value, it is to be feared Eton
boys would not be grateful for such a tip to-
day.
The king seems now to have become excited
about Winchester to a degree bordering on the
insanity which afterwards overtook him. He
seems to have thought there was some mystic
quality in its very soil which produced its
eminent scholars ; as Winchester College records
a ' tip ' of 3*. ifd. to ' John Hayne, valet of the
king's chamber, sent by the king to learn the
character of the soil of the foundation of the
college,' 38 while what must have been a huge slice
38 Winchester Coll. Bursars' Roll, 26 & 27 Hen. VI.
' Joh. Hayne, valecto camere Domini Regis misso ad
collegium per Dominum Regem pro noticia terre
fundamenti collegii, cum 1 6d. solutis 5 laborantibus et
fodientibus pro terra eiusdem fundament! mittenda
Domino Regi, 4^. 8</.' This expenditure, as well as
that on 2 kids, 2 pheasants, 1 2 partridges (parteiychis),
17 chickens, and 3 trouts (truttis) given the king,
when he came in person, was amply repaid by the
king's gift of a gold chalice and ' fiols,' £10 in gold,
and 4J. \d. for a pittance.
164
SCHOOLS
of earth, as 5 labourers were paid n. ±d. or a
day's wages each, for digging it up, was sent to
him. He came in person to Winchester on
29 January 1447-8, when there was a great
gathering of those interested in Eton, the two
provosts and divers fellows of the two colleges
meeting Bekynton, Say, Uvedale, the high sheriff,
and other Wykehamists. He spent a month,
later in the same year when Parliament was held
there, paying frequent visits to the college, and
gave them a tabernacle of gold for the high altar
and 401. for the scholars and £5 for the fellows
and other things. The result was nearly fatal
to Eton, for he seems to have now conceived
the idea of rivalling and surpassing Wykeham
not merely as school and college founder, but
also as cathedral builder.
Up to this time, as is shown by the so-called
'will' of Henry VI, which was not a testament
taking effect on death, but a declaration of uses
or trusts of certain lands and revenues, chiefly
derived from the Duchy of Lancaster, which he
had vested in feoffees to carry out the works of
his two colleges, he was merely desirous of out-
bidding William of Wykeham's colleges. 'I ...
have doo my will and myne entent to be written
in maner that foloweth ... I will pray and
charge my feffees M that unto the tyme that the
saide edificacions and other werkes ... be fully
perfourmed and accomplished in more notable
wise than any of my said roiaume of England,
they see that my same colleges . . . have . . .
yerely £2,000 that is to say, Eton £1,000 and
. . . Cambridge £1,000 . . . unto the ende of
the terme of xx yeres.' The will and intent then
sets out the dimensions. The choir (quere) of
the church of Eton was to be 103 ft. long and
32 ft. broad and 80 ft. high, and the body or nave
1 04 ft. long and 32 ft. broad, with an aisle on
each side 1 5 ft. broad. ' And so the said
quere is lenger then the quere of Wynchestre
college at Oxenford by 3 feet, brodder by 2 fete
and the walls heyer by 20 fete, the pennacles
lenger 10 fete.' He had ensured this by sending
in I44240 Bekynton to New College with a
' squire of the lord king to measure the hall and
the church.' In like manner the following year
he had sent the Dean of St. Paul's to New Col-
lege ' to see and hear divine service celebrated
there and report on it to the lord king ' ; and the
New College choir was sent to Oseney Abbey,
where the king stayed, to do service before him
there. He was determined to eclipse it in that
respect also.
To make a school chapel larger than the largest
college chapel at Oxford then satisfied the king's
" This spelling admirably preserves the proper
pronunciation of the word ' feoffees," not ' fee-of-fces '
in three syllables.
"New Coll. Bursars' Roll, 11 & 2* Hen. VI.
' Pro j jentaculo dato armigero Domini Regis veniendo
ad mensurandum aulam et ecclesiam, 23*.'
ambition. But his visit to Winchester later in
the year seems to have developed megalomania.
Henry now got from Oxford, as master of the
works, Master Roger Keys, who, as second war-
den of All Souls' College, had overseen the com-
pletion of its buildings, and kept its extant and
admirable accounts. On 26 January 1448-9
Keys was paid41 191. f)\d. for his expenses for
nine days with four horses and three servants,
' sent by the lord king to Salisbury and Win-
chester, to make certain measurements there, viz.
of the choirs and naves of the churches there.'
The result was seen in three successive plans41
for completing the Eton buildings, culminating in
' The Kynge's owne avyse, as touchyng certayne
dimensions also well of the Qwere as of the body
of the churche, with the yles, of his college royall
of oure blessed lady of Eton.' These plans in-
creased the length of the choir from 103 ft. to
1 1 8 ft., and finally to 150 ft., and the breadth
from 32 ft. to 35 ft. and finally 40 ft., whilst the
nave was enlarged from 1 04 ft. to 1 1 9 ft. and then
to 1 68 ft. long, with similar increases of breadth,
the aisles being also increased in breadth from
15 ft. to 2O ft. each. Thus the whole length of
the church was made 318 ft. instead of 207 ft.,
and the breadth 80 ft. ' And so the said quere
schall be lenger than the quere of the Newe Col-
lege at Oxford bi 47 fete, brodder bi 8 fete and
the walles heyer by 20 fete And also heyer than
the walles of seynt Stephen's Chapel at West-
minstre.' In fact the design of a school chapel
was now enlarged into that of a first-class cathe-
dral.
It is interesting to observe that there was a
definite plan drawn out, and the actual architect
was apparently found in London, as Roger Keys
spent three weeks there negotiating for a new
quarry at Hudleston in Yorkshire and ' to show
the king the drawing made for the finishing of
the building.' 4»
To carry out this stupendous design, the whole
of the just completed, or almost completed, chapel,
for the roof and stalls had both been finished,
even to the polishing of the latter with ' hownd
fissch (? dog-fish) skyn,' had to be destroyed, and
special directions were required to ensure that the
very foundations themselves should not be re-
moved, but only added to for the greater breadth
contemplated. From the year 1448 to 1450 no
less than £3,336 was spent on the works, or
about £100,000, at a moderate computation, in
our money. The Marquis of Suffolk, Wayne-
flete, and the Bishop of Salisbury contributed
about £700 (or £21,000) of this sum. But it
was evidently more than the royal coffers could
stand. In 1450 the impeachment of Suffolk was
" Keys' accounts in Eton library.
0 Willis and Clark, op. cit. i, 365 ; Maxwell Lyte,
op. cit.
0 ' Ad ostendendnm Domino Regi portraturam
factam super condusione cditiui.'
165
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
followed by his death and Jack Cade's rising.
The effect was promptly seen in the works. In
1450—1, under a new master of the works, in-
stead of eighty-four masons only twenty-two
were employed; in 1452-3 the number rose to
forty, but next year, the year of the first attack
of Henry's insanity, they fell to twenty-two again.
From 1458 to 1460 no more than thirty-three
workmen in all were employed. The great
church was only built as far as the choir door,
and then remained, and remains, unfinished.
On Wayneflete's promotion, John Clerk, the
vice-provost, was made provost, being elected by
the fellows 2 August I447.43a But he died in
October of the same year, and William West-
bury, the head master, succeeded him, being
appointed by patent 8 December 1447. He was,
oddly enough, for some 300 years, the only head
master to become provost, though for the last
150 years the provostry has been regarded as a
retiring pension for the head master. Hitherto
the provost had hired a house in London to live
in during his frequent visits there in attendance
on the king or for college business, paying in
1444-5 £5 f°r the year as rent to John Goffe,
mercer, and afterwards £2 a year to the Abbot of
Chertsey. By patent, 30 October 1448, the king
conferred on the college for this purpose the
Leper Hospital of St. James, now St. James's
Palace. This hospital had an endowment of
some hundreds of acres of land in Westminster
and the suburbs ; and though part was taken in
exchange by Henry VIII when he made it a
palace, the bulk was retained by the college, and
part of it, some 140 acres, has just been sold for
j£8o,ooo for a garden city at Hampstead.
Westbury was succeeded as head master by
Richard Hopton, a fellow of Oriel, and probably
an Eton exhibitioner there. He did not take
holy orders till four years later, I February
1451, on the title of the college. After six years
he retired on an Eton fellowship, 2 March 1453.
In May 1457 ne supplicated as B.D. for a D.D.
degree at Oxford. He gave up his fellowship in
1479, but was re-elected in 1486, and died and
was buried in Eton Chapel 19 January 1496-7.
Two lines of his epitaph ** seem to claim that
he was equally eminent in music as in grammar :
' He sweated to weave his true sons in the threads
of grammar, and honey flowed in his deep notes.'
Mr. Thomas Forster, or Foster, scholar of Win-
chester 1434, and of New College 1439, suc-
ceeded Hopton as head master in May 1453. He
had William Chapman as usher. In that year the
endowment was further increased by the grant
of Cowick Priory, and the last Act of Parlia-
** B.M. Sloane MSS. 4840, fol. zz8.
44 Grammaticis solidos fills intexere gnatos Sudavit ;
gravibus mella fluere notis.' Another possible inter-
pretation, however, is that ' the honey of learning
flowed by means of heavy blows,' and this is equally
in accordance with Eton traditions.
ment obtained. New statutes seem to have been
made that year, j£i being paid for writing
the book of statutes and the correction of
another book of statutes, the ' velom ' for the
book costing 6s. 8d.t and its binding is. 8d.
The queen sent two special messengers to the
college to inform them of the birth of the
prince, destined to prove fatal to the peace of
the kingdom and the prosperity of the college.
It was perhaps in commemoration of this event
that the king gave an image of St. Nicholas to
the college. In this year there first appear in the
accounts considerable payments to the head
master for the 'exhibition of the scholars' on
certain feast days, ,£10 being spent for the pur-
pose on St. John's day, at Christmas, £12 on
19 April, £6 in September, which was for a
nutting expedition, and £11 on 8 November,
which was apparently connected with the boy-
bishop celebrations. Smaller sums were paid
for the choristers on the same days. So that it
was not all learning even in those laborious days.
By Michaelmas 1454 Clement Smythe of
Southwark, scholar of Winchester 1439, scholar
of New College 1444, and fellow 1446, had
succeeded Forster in the head-mastership. He
only took his M.A. degree after his election, on
20 April 1453, under a dispensation that Mr.
Chyld, another fellow of New College, probably
the ex-usher of Eton, might read for him, i.e.
give the two years' lectures statutably required
of every new or regent master. Smythe was
only twenty-seven years old at the time. But
at Eton, as everywhere until the end of the
1 7th century, the schoolmasters were, when
elected, almost invariably young men who had
just taken their degrees, schools not being regarded
as abiding places, but as stepping-stones to higher
preferment. Clement Smythe had for usher
Thomas Avery. Smythe held office for five years,
in turn retiring on an Eton fellowship 1 5 February
1458, and acting as bursar in 1459-60.
In 1457 there came as master John Peyntour,
the first Etonian to become head master of his
old school. Of Daventry, Northants, he
headed the roll to King's in 1448," and is pro-
bably the same person who became B.A. at
Oxford in 1455. A note in an old Eton list
describes him as ' an excellent limner ' ; but it
may be doubted whether that is not merely an
inference from his name. It is not known whether
he held office for ten years until Clement Smythe's
return ; or whether for a time, from 1463 to
Lady Day 1467, the school did not absolutely
cease during the storm which overtook Eton and
the kingdom.
The reign of the royal founder came to an
end with his defeat at the battle of Mortimer's
46 In Alumni Eton. 1447. But the years given in
that book are mostly one year too early, through mis-
calculation of the year of our Lord from the year of
the king.
166
SCHOOLS
Cross. In the first flush of victory, on 27 Feb-
ruary 1460-1, Edward, Duke of York and Earl
of March and Ulster (Ulvestre), the day before
his entry into London, as ' vray and just heire '
of England, granted letters of protection to the
' Provoste and fellowship of the collage of Eton,'
desiring everyone not to hurt, trouble or vex
them — ' neither them in their lyve loids goods
or catalls, robbe despoyle ner vexe.' On
4 August 1461 Edward IV assumed the crown.
By an Act of his first Parliament, 4 November
1461, all the grants of Henry VI, not expressly
saved, were made void, and resumed into the
king's hands. This of course did not dissolve
the college, which, being an ecclesiastical estab-
lishment, created and confirmed under the
supreme ecclesiastical power of the Pope, was
not disestablished or dissoluble by the temporal
act of king or Parliament. But the endowment
was at Edward's mercy. It says much for
Edward's policy, and indeed magnanimity, that
he not only spared the college itself, though it
was the favourite and most conspicuous work of
the man who had killed his father and robbed
him of his inheritance, but re-endowed it. By
patent 23 February 1462,** he granted as from
14 March 1461 to Provost Westbury and the
college, to pray for himself and Cicely his
mother, and the soul of Richard Duke of York,
the hospital of St. Peter, Windsor, apparently a
new property not previously enjoyed by Eton ;
two manors of Ogbourne Priory ; and the prio-
ries of Stratfield Saye, and of Cogges and Minster
Lovell, Oxfordshire ; Greeting, Suffolk, and
Evcrdon, Northants, Docking and Sporle, Nor-
folk ; Lyminster, Sussex ; part of Ogbourne
Priory ; Clatford and Hullavington, Wiltshire ;
Piddlehinton, Dorset, and Stogursey (Stoke
Courcy), Somerset ; with certain apportus due to
foreign monasteries. The bulk of the property,
however, was gran ted away. Thus on 26 February
1462,** Brimpsfield, Gloucestershire, Charlton,
Wiltshire, Povington, Dorset, Weedon Beck,
Northants, and other Eton properties were granted
to William Beaufitz for ten years, he accounting
to the Exchequer for any surplus income over
I ,OOO marks a year. Some of these, e.g. Povington
and Weedon Beck, were afterwards recovered.
On 3 August following, perhaps to attract the
support of the Church, which owed so much to
the house of Lancaster, Edward actually set up
again the alien priory of Deerhurst, granting it **
with all its possessions, which Eton had enjoyed,
to a monk of Westminster named Buckland,
' according to the original foundation and inten-
tion of Edward the Confessor.' But he was
not to pay tribute to the foreign superior, the
abbey of St. Denis, during war with France.
Five years afterwards, on the allegation that
" Pat. I Edw. IV, pt. iii, m. 24.
" Ibid. pt. iv, m. 11.
• Ibid. 2 Edw. IV, pt. i, m. J.
Buckland had wasted the property and only
maintained out of it himself and one secular
chaplain, the king by Act of Parliament 3 July
1467, took back the priory, and on 25 July**
annexed it to Tewkesbury Abbey.
Meanwhile, incensed perhaps at the continued
resistance of the Lancastrians, and determined
to stamp out all the works of Henry, Edward
represented to Pope Pius II that the Eton build-
ings were unfinished, and the college could not
carry out its work. So the pope on 13 Novem-
ber 1463 issued a bull suppressing the college as
a separate entity, and incorporating it with St.
George's, Windsor. This ' Bull of Union,' as
it has been called, provided that the site was not
' to revert to profane uses,' and that ' its accus-
tomed charges were to be properly supported,'**
while its members were to retain their rank and
emoluments. It would not appear that the col-
lege or school ceased. It was, in fact, treated
much as the Hospital of St. John at Basingstoke,
when annexed to Merton by Walter Merton ; or
of St. Bartholomew, Oxford, when annexed to
Oriel College by Edward III ; or of St. James,
London, when annexed to Eton itself. The
effect was that the institution was not destroyed,
but all its surplus revenues, after meeting the
fixed charges, went to the absorbing college in-
stead of to its own augmentation. The union
so far took effect, as appears from entries in the
audit rolls relating to the subsequent retransfer
to Eton, that the bulk of the bells, plate, jewels,
and ornaments of the chapel, even the very
horses of the stable, were taken to Windsor.
The Eton Audit Rolls ceased from 1461 to
1467. King's College, which as regards its
building was in a much less advanced state than
Eton, seems to have been suspended. The list
of admissions of scholars at King's stops in 1459,
and was not resumed till 1466, when only three
scholars were elected. The school may have
gone on in a truncated form ; but whether there
were any scholars in college, after those existing
in 1463 had left, is doubtful. Clement Smythe
seems to have found his position as fellow so
precarious, that he returned to the teaching
profession, becoming head master of Winchester
at Michaelmas 1464, where he remained till
Lady Day 1467, when he again became head
master at Eton.
Provost Westbury wisely bowed to the storm
at the time. But two years later, 13 July 1465,"
* Pat. 7 Edw. IV, pt. iii, m. 5.
** ' Congrue tupportentur oncra consueta.'
11 Maxwell Lyte gives the date as 13 July 1463,
and says that in hit protest Westbury ignored the Bull
of Union. If 1463 were the correct date, Westbury
could hardly have done otherwise, as the bull was not
issued till four months later. But in point of fact
he did refer to what had been done two yean before,
in the words in which he protested against union by
' papal or any other authority.'
I67
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
' fearing grave prejudice to himself and the
college,' he protested before a public notary in
St. Martins le Grand, London, in an appeal
to the papal see : 'I never will consent to the
transfer of any persons of Eton to St. George's,
Windsor, or to its union or appropriation thereto,
by apostolic or any other authority . . . and if
I ever consented thereto — which I do not admit,
but altogether deny — I did so, not by my own
free will, but under fear such as may affect a
man of reasonably firm mind.'
Eton school, if it had ever entirely ceased, was
resumed either at Michaelmas 1466, or at the
beginning of I467,62 as appears from an imper-
fect and undated account roll which has been
hitherto unnoticed. It is rather difficult to make
out exactly what period this roll covers, since
dating from the first coming (primo adventu), it
gives 1 7 weeks' commons without details. It
then gives the third term with the usual details,
but extends this term to 27 weeks, and then
begins similar details for ' the first week of this
year ' and the rest of that term. This apparently
refers to the Michaelmas term of 1467, which
was the normal beginning of the college year.
The income for the period to 31 December 1467
amounted 10^321, but of this £13 was attri-
buted to a legacy from John Bower, one of the
earliest fellows, presumably for the obit, which
was afterwards maintained in remembrance of
him ; and £2 ids. was for an old debt of
Thomas Capron, paid by his wife. Apparently
only the provost, a temporary head master,
and half a dozen boys came at first, as the com-
mons ' at their first corning ' only amounted to
6s. id., and next week to <)s. 6d. By the end
of the quarter beginning at Lady Day the
weekly commons amounted to 401. At the
beginning of the third term, Midsummer Day,
there were the provost, 2 fellows, the head
master, usher, i chaplain, 6 clerks, and 20
' scholars, choristers, and servitors,' who gradu-
ally rose to 26. In the i6th week the number
of the scholars suddenly rose to 43, and by the
27th week to 52, though how the term managed
to have 27 weeks is a mystery. The rise in num-
bers was due to a new election held on 8 July
1467, the morrow of the translation of St.
Thomas the Martyr (Becket), the earliest possible
day according to the statutes. The election
roll is extant. It contains 71 names, 7 of which
are found on the roll for King's the following
year, though only one had then attained the
statutable age of 1 8, and one was no more than
1 5 years old, while 22 of them eventually went to
King's, showing that there were large gaps to
fill in that college also. Of those on the roll I 7
came from London, 7 from Hampshire, 4 from
Cambridgeshire, and the rest dispersedly from
various counties. Two of those elected to King's
this year seem to have declined admission, and
their places were taken by the two last on the
roll, one of whom was twenty-two years old, and
probably a scholar at the time of Henry VI, who
had gone ofFelsewhere meanwhile. The huge roll
of 71 must have been intended to supply a
very large deficiency in the full numbers at
Eton. All certainly were not admitted, as three
or four are found at the top of the roll next
year. But the majority must have been admitted.
This large election was made in anticipation of
the re-endowment of the college effected by
letters patent ten days later, 17 July I4&7,61
the grant being in frankalmoign, i.e. by way
of charity, to pray for the souls of King Edward
IV and his queen, Edward thus being sub-
stituted as founder for Henry VI. The main
items, apart from the apportus payable to alien
houses, were the hospital of St. John the Baptist,
Dorchester ; the priories of Langford — ' Hang-
inglangford ' it is usually called in the accounts
— in Wiltshire ; Brimpsfield, Gloucestershire ;
Modbury and Cowick, Devonshire ; Blakenham,
Suffolk ; St. Helen's, Isle of Wight ; most of the
possessionsof Ogbourne Priory,including Weedon
Beck ; and the reversion of St. James' Hospital,
now St. James' Palace, ' by Westminster,' after
the death of Roger Malmesbury, who on the
resumption had been appointed warden. Pov-
ington Priory,64 Dorset, was also included ; but
this, mysteriously enough, though granted 17 May
1474 to St. George's, Windsor, is found after-
wards among the Eton possessions, and was event-
ually exchanged in the time of Edward VI for
other property. It seems probable that the intro-
duction into the statutes of the oaths of the fellows
that they ' will not favour the damned opinions,
errors, or heresies of John Wycliff, Reginald
Pecok, or other heretic while he lives, on pain,
of perjury and expulsion ipso facto,' was effected
at this time. For the persecution of poor Pecok
was a Yorkist bid for the favour of the Church.
The head master shown in the roll of 1466-7
was Clement Smythe, who had returned from
Winchester at the reduced pay of j£iO a year,
to which amount, the same as that of the head
master of Winchester, instead of ^i 6 as contem-
plated by Henry's statutes, the salary of the head
master of Eton was permanently reduced until
the reign of Elizabeth. Clement Smythe was
paid for three terms only, showing that he came
at Lady Day 1467. Some scholars accompanied
or were found by the provost ' at his first advent,'
and were taught by one Henry Grymston, who
was paid 6s. 8d. fro informacione puerorum, and
then by ' Sir ' Walter Barbour. Richard Profett,
the principal servant, who like the rest suffered
a reduction of wages from £5 a year to £2, in
the absence of fellows, was sent on estates busi-
68 See Eton Audit Rolls.
168
M Pat. 7 Edw. IV, pt. iv, m. 13.
44 Pat. 14 Edw. IV, pt. i, m. i.
SCHOOLS
ness, and also ' to Cambridge in January for
"Sir" Walter Barbour, at a cost of 14*. 8</.'
Barbour filled up the rest of the first term till
Clement Smythe's return. He then seems to
have gone back to Cambridge to finish his course
and take his M.A. degree, after which, in 1470,
then described as magister, he succeeded Clement
Smythe in the head-mastership. John Upnor
came as bostiariui for two terms and five weeks,
and was succeeded in the following year by
Richard Hakier. By the end of the year
three fellows had returned, Richard Hopton, the
ex-head master, who was vice-provost, William
Weye, and William Strete. John Boner had
also returned, but only to die. Apparently five
choristers came, their places being temporarily
supplied by five boys who are called King's
choristers, and had sheets, blankets, shoes, and
surplices bought for them. The only element
of the college which never reappeared was the
almsfolk. They were finally dropped, and
were never resumed for 400 years.
The cost of getting restitution was consider-
able. Apart from 'a fresh salmon given to the
king at Windsor ' at a cost of lew., 61. Sd. was paid
for a letter addressed to the Bishop (sic) of York,
George Neville, then Chancellor of England, for
the restitution of the letters patent, 41. lod. for
writing two bills in Parliament, 6s. 8J. to the
king's attorney [general], Henry Sucell, 13*. 4^.
to the king's secretary for two letters, and for two
more under the Privy Seal 131. ^d. The writ-
ing of letters patent cost IOJ., their enrolment
6s. 8d. ; two fines to the king for two grants cost
£16 181. ; 5*. was paid to the valet of the
wardrobe for taking down arras in St. George's
College, Windsor ; and a letter of Privy Seal to
the Dean and Canons of the college of Windsor
for restitution of goods cost 6s. 8d. ; while the
official of the king's antechamber was given I Of.
For a licence in mortmain a fine of £8 was paid,
apparently for the grant of Goldcliff Priory in
Wales. Two letters to the pope cost only IOJ. ;
copies of the provisions to be had and writing
them cost y. ^d.t and writing Pope Calixtus'
bull 5*. Finally, the king's attorney, Henry
Sucell, received £i as a fee, and the solicitor,
Richard Lovell, 13*. ^d.
So speedily, however, in spite of all, were the
old customs renewed that the three bonfires
(' bencfyres*) on Midsummer eve and the eve of
St. Peter and St. Paul and of St. Thomas the
Martyr were duly provided for. The celebra-
tion of the feast of the Assumption was, however,
on a much reduced scale, only £4 odd being
spent, instead of over £30 ; and the costs of the
election were reduced to £2 2s. ^d. In subse-
quent years each item became fixed at £5 a
year.
In 1468 the regular Audit Rolls recommenced,
but the account for that year is made up from
I January, instead of from Michaelmas. It
shows an income of £3 70 instead of close on
£1,500 a year, as it was in 1458. No provost
or fellow received any pay this year ; though the
provost was paid for this year in the following
year, and for the rest of his life at the rate of
£20 a year, instead of £75 which he had pre-
viously received. The fellows never again rose
in number above seven,nor their salaries above £5.
There were only three chaplains instead of io,and
four clerks instead of 10 ; while in the first week
there were only 52 scholars, choristers, and servi-
tors in commons, instead of 109. In July the
number went down to 22, but this seems to
have been due to an outbreak of plague, their
commons being paid to outsiders ' at the time of
pest in the town.'
Wayneflete seems to have borne an important
part in the resuscitation of Eton, as the accounts
contain frequent entries of expenses of Provost
Westbury on visits paid 'to the lord of Win-
chester,' which in January 1468—9 were for ' be-
ginning the works of the church,' and ' for
providing money for them.' Notwithstanding
that Wayneflete was the principal overseer ap-
pointed by Henry's will, and was his chancellor
up to the battle of Northampton, in spite of
endeavours made to ruin him on charges of
oppression of his tenants in Edward's first Parlia-
ment, he seems to have soon been admitted to
favour. After the resuscitation of Eton he
loyally carried out to the best of his power the
trust reposed in him by Henry. No £1,000 a
year was now forthcoming from the Crown
revenues. So he had to do whatever was done
at his own expense, though he was himself ex-
pending vast sums on the foundation of his
own college of St. Mary Magdalen at Oxford.
Edward IV so far interested himself as to allow the
college, by privy seal of 21 March 1471—2, to
take so much chalk and flint from Windsor Park
'as shalbe necessary for the ful bylding of the
said churche.' Wayneflete's glazier provided the
glass of the east and other windows, and Wayne-
flete contracted, 15 August 1475," with a
Southwark** carpenter, Walter Nichol, who for
IOO marks was to make the stalls and rood loft
' for utter (i.e. west) parte . . . like to the Rode
lofte late made in Bisshop Wykehams Collage at
Winchestrc, and the inner part . . . with the
garnysshing of all the stalles . . . like to the
rode loft and quere of the collage of Seint
Thomas of Acres in London,* where is now the
Mercers' Hall. On 8 January 1479*' Wayneflete,
also at his own expense, contracted for a supply of
stone from Headington, near Oxford, for the
' werke he hath at Etone.' Abandoning the
vast nave, he built the antechapel at the west
** Willis and Clark, op. cit. i, $96.
14 The Bishop of Winchester's London house wa»
then in Southwark, close to St. Mary Ovcry.
v Willis and Clark, op. cit. i, 410.
169 22
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
end as it now stands, after the Wykehamical
model as seen at New College, All Souls, and
Magdalen Colleges. The church was finally
finished (on this truncated scale) in 1487-8, with
a series of elaborate paintings, still in part re-
maining behind the panelling, and discovered
when the church was ' restored ' in 1847. The
Prince Consort, who superintended the work,
would not allow the pictures to remain on view,
as being ' papistical.' From the drawings given
in Sir H. Maxwell Lyte's History they were
very beautiful. They have been variously attri-
buted to Italian and Flemish artists. But seeing
that the only painter mentioned by name is
William Baker, and that all the colours paid for
are in the Bursars' Rolls expressly given in
English as well as Latin (e.g. colon viridi, ang/ice,
vertagrece ; colore fulvo, sc. oker ; colors blodio,
anglice, blew), it is difficult to see why the 'anti-
patriotic bias ' which prevails in art has been
allowed to deprive English workmen of the
credit of the work. As Mr. J. W. Clark has
pointed out that the subjects and treatment are
very much the same as some paintings in the
Lady chapel of Winchester Cathedral, and the
subjects are taken from a book then newly pub-
lished in England, Vincent de Beauvais' Speculum
Historiale, the ascription of the work to foreign-
ers seems wholly unwarranted.
In 1469 the Audit Roll records only three
quarters of a year from New Year's Day to
Michaelmas, in order that the regular series from
Michaelmas to Michaelmas might be resumed.
During this time ' Sir ' William Darker was paid
y. j.d. for his expenses from Oxford for the
office of usher, and at Michaelmas he suc-
ceeded Hakyer. Clement Smythe retired in
February 1469-70 on a canonry at Windsor,
which he afterwards exchanged for one at War-
wick, where he died some twenty years later.
Though Eton recovered some of its possessions
in 1467, it was some years before the annexation
to Windsor was formally revoked. This was
done by a decree of Cardinal Archbishop Bour-
chier, 30 August 1476, in virtue of a bull of
Pope Paul II of 1470, which, on a petition from
Edward IV, stating that he had been misinformed
as to the unfinished state of the college, commis-
sioned the archbishop to inquire into the matter,
and, if satisfied, to revoke the former bull of
union. Proceedings were begun on this bull in
November and December 1470, during the
restoration of Henry VI, which lasted from
October to April 1470—1. A large sum, over £22,
was spent on ' rewards to doctors in law, nota-
ries, proctors, and clerks for expediting the Bull
for the separation of our college of Eton from
that of St. George's, Windsor.' The advantage
taken of the restoration thus to hurry on the
proceedings had no doubt an adverse effect on
the mind of Edward IV, and was the cause of
their being stopped, and of the commission re-
maining in abeyance for another six years. It
is not perhaps guessing too much if we credit
the final separation to the good offices of Thomas
Rotherham, who, though only a nominal Etonian,
admitted on one day to qualify him colourably
for admission to King's the next, was a Kingsman
of many years' standing, and in 1475 not only
diocesan of Buckinghamshire as Bishop of Lin-
coln, but also Lord Chancellor.
Many payments are recorded in that year for
gifts to divers of the council *8 for expediting the
bull directed to the cardinal archbishop. The
final item ' in part of the expenses of the
counsel of the college riding into Kent to the Lord
Cardinal to give sentence under the delegating
bull ' amounted to £4, while John Harper, valet of
the Crown, was given 30*. for bringing the
letters of privy seal for the restitution of the
college goods, the Dean of Windsor being ap-
peased with a trout, a pike, and wine at a cost
of 5*.
The first head master after the restitution was
Walter Barbour, coming in February 1470. Of
him nothing has hitherto been known, except
that he is entered in the Eton register as ' father
of Walter the hermit,' a person who may have
been well known then, but is unknown now.
Barbour was perhaps a relation of William of
Wayneflete, whose father is described in a deed "
of his great-niece, Juliana Chirchestyle, as
' Richard Patyn alias dicti Barbour.' He was an
Etonian, and on the roll for King's in I458.60
Barbour is recorded " in 1473-4 as the medium
of payment of lod. ' for the binding of a school-
book, viz. Ovid ' ; the first school-book mentioned
in the Audit Rolls.
In 1471 the number of the scholars, &c., rose to
71. We are able to recover the names of a few
of the scholars of this epoch, from the custom
springing up of boarding the scholars out when
they were ill, and entering the payments made
for them on the Audit Roll. Among them was
one John Gyott, who had necessaries bought for
him in 1469, and is described in 1475-6 as 'the
King's scholar,' having been presumably nomi-
nated by the king, the first recorded instance
of what grew to be a regular practice. Thus
William Kidylton, who got off to King's in
68 ' Diversis de consilio pro expedicione cuiusdam
bulle.' This may mean ' to divers counsel.'
69 15 Dec. 1497; in Magd. Coll. Oxon. Reg.
Admiss. (or C.), fol. 84^. Printed in Macray's Reg.
(new ser.), ii, p. ix.
60 Alumni Eton, gives it as 1457. But the dates of
the reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV in that work
are wrong, through not observing that the roll being
made up in July or the first half of August, the year
of the king is for this purpose a year later in years of
the Lord than that in which the year of the king
began.
61 Aud. R. 14 & 15 Edw. IV, 'pro ligatura libri
scole, viz. Ovidii.'
170
SCHOOLS
1478, and a chorister, William Marchall, were
in 1469-70 boarded for a time with Richard
Bernyeat. In 1472, besides Capland, Ellysmer,
Lute, Ralph Crete, no doubt a scion of the
family of Creykc, in the East Riding, who to
this day habitually bear the name of Ralph, all
of whom afterwards appear on the rolls for
King's, Philip Berte, no doubt of the family of
the Earls of Abingdon, John Parker, Henry
Reynold, Robert Cotton, Hyll, and Forde are
named. So in other years. A considerable ad-
dition to the Alumni Etonensn could be made
from these entries.
Barbour's ushers were William Darker, Janu-
ary 1470—4 ; then Maurice Bye, at Michaelmas
1474 ; Henry Brydde or Byrd, an Etonian, who
went to King's in 1470 ; and at Michaelmas
1475, Edward Huett.
Westbury died on II March 1477, devis-
ing to the college a house in Windsor. The
fellows first elected as provost one of themselves,
Thomas Barker," who was a Henrician fellow
and for many years vice-provost ; but the king
having nominated Henry Bost, Barker resigned,
fearing the king's anger equivalent to death, or,
as his epitaph puts it, cant hanari Nolem ; id
meminity mars indignatio regum. Henry Bost was
elected a fellow of Eton a few days before his
election as provost, to qualify him according to
the statutes. From this time forward, in spite
of the statutes, the provostship of Eton was
always treated as in the gift of the Crown, the
appointee being colourably elected a fellow first.
Bost was a distinguished person, being already
master of King's Hall, a foundation of Ed-
ward III, now absorbed in Trinity College,
Cambridge. He held office for twenty-five years,
and is said in his epitaph to have got wealth for
Eton through the influence of Edward's queen,
Elizabeth :
Illius auspiciis elemosyna conjugis uncti
Edwardi quart! larga fluebat opem.
This statement disproves the ' tradition ' that it
was Jane Shore through whom the grants were
obtained. This ' tradition ' may be dismissed to
the limbo of inventions with the similar ones
which made William of Wykeham buy his
pardon from Edward III through his mistress,
Alice Ferrers, and credits Chelsea Hospital to the
intervention of Nell Gwyn. There seems to
be no authority for the ascription of two pictures
at Eton and King's respectively to Jane Shore.
The queen's family, on the other hand, in the
person of her brother Anthony, Lord Wodevill,
and his relations, was specially commemorated by
an obit in Eton Chapel for having procured a
regrant of property in the city of London. The
provost's salary was raised in 1482-3 from £20
to £30, though the fellows' and masters' salaries
remained unchanged.
* Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 83.
The head masters of this era reigned by no
means as long as the provosts. The next
master, David Hawbroke or Haukbroke, c.
1479, was another Wykehamist, as he may be
identified with David Haukbroke, who appears
in the Bursars' Rolls of Winchester College as
hostiarius or usher there, at first under Clement
Smythe and then under his successor, from Lady
Day 1464 to Michaelmas 1469. Whether in
the interim he was teaching some other school
does not appear. Several Audit Rolls are missing
in the reign of Edward IV. In 1482-3 the
usher was Thomas Fox, a Winchester scholar in
1473, succeeded at Midsummer by John Ash ton.
Hawbroke continued to Michaelmas 1483. From
Michaelmas 1 484 to 1 4 February 1 485-6, Thomas
Mache or Machy, unidentified, was master, with
John Ashton as usher. Machy seems to have been
dismissed and to have removed with himself a Virgil
belonging to the school. At least the Audit Roll
for the year records, ' paid to John Barston for
redemption of a Virgil furtively taken away * ;
while neighbouring items are ' for a lock and 12
keys to the library door ' and ' laid out on the
officials of the Court of Arches for the matter
of the College against Mr. Mache, and expenses
of Mr. William Attwater (a fellow, afterwards
Bishop of Lincoln) to London for 4 days,
2OJ. 4</.' In Mache's successor, William Hor-
man, head master from the middle of February
1485-6, Eton acquired from Winchester
(scholar 1468) and New College (scholar i July
1475 M) a famous man. He remained a fellow
of New College till his election at Eton, his
place there being filled 2 February 1485.** He
was head master of Eton for nine years, and then
was promoted to the head-mastership of Win-
chester, which was evidently regarded as a higher
place. He remained at Winchester from Lady
Day 1495 to Michaelmas 1501, when he re-
turned to Eton as a fellow. He was vice-pro-
vost for many years until his death 12 April 1535,
when he was buried in the church. His fame
has come down to our day in virtue of a school
book called Bulgaria* The frequent references
to Greek, and especially to the performance of
Greek plays, bears out Sir Thomas Pope's state-
ment in 1556 that in his day Greek learning
flourished at Eton. Herman's book involved
him in a fierce controversy with Robert
Whittington, a rival schoolmaster and school
author, who called himself Bcisus, to which he
and Lily, the high master of St. Paul's, replied
in a book entitled Anti bosticon. Herman's
" The scholars of New College up to 1854 were
really fellows, though they were called scholars during
their two yean of probation.
— There ii absolutely no foundation for the claim
that he was a Cambridge man, made in Cooper's
Athtnat Cantabrigieniti.
« Leach, Hut. Winch. Cttt. 217 ; Maxwell Lyte,
Eton, 110-13.
171
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
versatility is shown by his being also the author
of two works on anatomy, so probably he
had been one of the medical fellows of New
College. He gave to Eton 12 of the 100 MSS.
which the college now possesses.67 Under Hor-
man the ushers were Mr. Eryll, Christmas
1485-6 to Lady Day 1488 ; Thomas Lyrypyn,
1488 to Michaelmas 1489 and perhaps beyond;
from Michaelmas 1492 to Midsummer 1493
Lane, then Grey for three terms. Eryll was
Henry Earle, a Winchester scholar (1472) and
fellow of New College (1481-5). In a letter68
written at Winchester 17 October 1486, King
Henry VII asked ' the Regentes of owre
Universitie off Oxenforde ' to ' dyspense with
the regencie,' i.e. the ' contynuall abode there as
necessary regent by an hole yere ' of ' Maister
Henry Erie, huisshere of the gramer scole withyn
owre college of Eton, late commencyde in arte
withyn owre Universitie ' as ' the sayde maister
Henry is necessary and behofull for the goode
and formall contynuance yn lerninge off such
children and scolars which be att owre Exhibition
yn owre sayde college, and yff he shulde be
remevyd and chaungyde ther tyme myght turne
and slyde to dispendy.' Lyrypyn or Lyrpyn
was from the same colleges, and in 1 494 became
a fellow of Winchester, where his effigy in brass
may still be seen. He died 30 March 1509.
For Edward Powell, the next head master,
1494-6, recourse was again had to Oriel College,
and he was very probably an old Etonian.
Nothing seems to be known of his head-master-
ship at Eton ; but in after days he became an
eminent ecclesiastical lawyer, canon of Lincoln
and Salisbury, rector of the college of St. Ed-
mund there, and D.D.69 He got some favour for
writing in 1 523 a defence of the seven sacraments
against Martin Luther, whom he dubbed ' smoky
friar and eminent Wickliffite ' ; but more dis-
favour for a tract against the divorce of Queen
Catherine, and was executed 30 July 1540 as a
traitor for denying the royal supremacy. His
successor at Eton, Nicholas Bradbrigg or Brad-
bridge, came in July 1496, with Haffbrd,
Haward, or Howard as usher, who gave place in
1498 to Such for half a year, followed by
Clerke for half a year, and then by Barrett for
two years. Haward was perhaps Philip Haward,
who went to King's in 1493, and Barrett John
Barrett, who went to King's in 1495. Brad-
bridge held for five years and left at Michaelmas
1501. Two or three years later he became head
master of Chichester Grammar School. A
canonry and prebend in the cathedral had been
annexed to the head-mastership of this school by
Bishop Story in I497,70 which caused it to be re-
garded at this time as promotion by the masters
67 Wasey Sterry, op. cit. 67.
68 Anstey, Epist. Acad. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), no. 334.
69 Wood, Athen. Oxon. 53.
70 V.C.H. Sussex, ' Schools,' ii, 404-5.
both of Eton and Winchester. Of Robert
Yong, who came as master at Michaelmas 1501,
nothing is known. He only stayed for a year.
John Smyth, who succeeded at Michaelmas 1502,
may be identified with that one of the name who
was third on the roll from Eton to King's in
1492 ; while John Vyse the usher was a scholar
of Winchester (1495) and of New College
(i497).71 The next usher, William Snelle, was
a Reading boy, scholar of Winchester 1497,
and fellow of New College 1505, is. 8d. being
the cost of fetching him from Oxford. King
Henry VII visited the college on 21 October with
' divers magnates ' at a cost of £ 1 9 CM. 9^.
John Smyth held office till Michaelmas 1507.
On 27 February 1504" Roger Lupton was
made provost by the king, after a colourable
election as fellow. Lupton was one of the
successful civil servants and ecclesiastical lawyers
who obtained the chief preferments in the
Church as their pay. He was a north country-
man, born at Sedbergh 73 in Yorkshire, on the
borders of Lancashire, in July 1456. At Cam-
bridge he took the degree of Bachelor of Canon
Law in 1483, and was presented by Richard III
to the rectory of Harlton in Cambridgeshire
in 1484. As his favourite description of him-
self is ' Doctor of Canon ' or * of decrees,' it
may be presumed that he duly took the degree
of Doctor of Canon Law. In the interval of
fifteen years which elapsed before he again re-
ceived clerical preferment from the Crown he
practised in the ecclesiastical courts. He was
made a canon of Windsor 24 November 1500,
and it is to this preferment he probably owed
his election to Eton. In his long provostship
of thirty-one years, no one, not even Wayne-
flete, left so great a mark on the college. Its
most striking and conspicuous portion, the great
gateway tower of the inner quadrangle and the
splendid range of buildings on either side of it,
the provost's lodgings, which front the visitor on
entrance, and form the western side of the quad-
rangle, together with the whole northern range
of buildings in the outer court, Long Chamber,
and the old school, now called the Lower School,
on the left of the outer entrance, are his handi-
work. He himself reposes under a stately monu-
ment in the beautiful little chantry chapel on
the north side of the ' church,' in which are
collected the monuments of the pre-Reformation
provosts. Thus Lupton 's Tower and Lupton's
Chantry still perpetuate his name at Eton.
Long Chamber was the first of Lupton's
works, and may have been built at his own cost,
71 Alumni Eton. 6.
" Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 6 1 1. But Alumni Eton.
gives his election as fellow on 22 Feb. 1503. There
is something wrong about the dates. Cooper in
Athen. Cant, probably gives the dates rightly, as fellow
on 1 6 Feb. and provost 27 Feb. 1502—3.
" Leach, Early Forks. Schools, ii, xli.
I72
SCHOOLS
as the only entries relating to it in the accounts
are 'for cleaning the new chamber' in 1504-5,
' for a lamp for the new chamber of the college
boys' in 1 506-7,** and 'for a pair of hinges
for the chamber of the Master Informator ' in
1511—12. But the accounts for 1503-4 are
missing and the expense of the building was prob-
ably entered in the rolls for that year. Payment
was made of 2os. for ' old earnest-money " at the
time of building the new school," and for ' work on
the roof of the Almshouse for 1 5 days and of the
school (gymnasia) for 2 days ' in 1514-15. Mr.
J. W. Clark thinks this was not a new building,
but a rebuilding. But the chief reasons assigned
are that in 1469-70 there was a payment for
twelve beds ' pro nova camera puerorum collegii.'
This is no proof that the boys all slept in one
chamber, but, on the contrary, suggests that they
were divided into six separate chambers, with
no more than 12 boys in each, and that a new
chamber had for some reason been added ; per-
haps one of the extinct fellows' chambers. In
1470—1 tilers were paid for three weeks' work
' about the repairs of the hall, the scholars'
chamber, and the new house by the pantry,'
while another man was paid ' for clearing the
underground vault and the boys' latrine.' This
shows, Mr. Clark says, that ' the boys' latrine
was by the sewer which still passes under the
east of Long Chamber.' But he himself gives
quotations which bring the sewer into connexion
with the kitchen. The fact is, the open sewer
probably then, as at St. Cross Hospital still, passed
all round the buildings. The first entry quoted
brings the boys' chamber in question into con-
nexion with the hall and pantry, that is, with the
west side of the inner quadrangle, and probably re-
fers to the new chamber only. In the Audit Roll
of 1475—6 is positive proof, which has been over-
looked, that they were not all in one chamber.
This is an entry of payment of 3^. to ' Mr.
Walter Barbour (the schoolmaster) for a lock and
key for the second chamber of the scholars ' ;
while in another roll for the latter part of the
same year 8</. was paid for a lock and key
camtre puerorum, which must be a different
chamber and should be translated, not ' the,' but
*a* boys' chamber. So in 1498—9 a payment
is made 'for repairs of the boys' chambers'
(cubicuhrum). In 1506—7 lOi. was paid to 'one
cleaning the children's chambers ' (uni mundanti
" Willii and Clark, op. cit. 417, 430. What Mr.
Clark describes at ' the room or enclosure called the
Gymnasium ' is of course the school. Maxwell Lyte,
op. cit. 98, has by mistake transferred the entry about
the new school to the earlier year I $06—7. From a
reference to the ' great west gate by the kings high-
way next the Almshouse ' in 1499-1 5°°> a°d to the
'great west gate by the almshouse' in 1516-17, it is
clear that the almshouse stood where Upper School
now stands.
71 Pro antijuis ami ; but perhaps it means ' the
old arras.'
cameras puerorum). In the same year mention is
made of ' the chambers of commoners ' (cubiculii
commensalium). Provost Lupton, with the wealth
of accumulated livings and canonries and lucra-
tive legal and civil offices, such as the clerkship of
the Hanapcr, which he held in 1509, and the
mastership in Chancery, bestowed on him in 1 529,
was not content with the four chambers formerly
assigned to the provost. Wishing to extend and
rebuild the provost's lodging on a magnificent
scale, he had first to move the school and the
masters' and scholars' chambers. So he rebuilt
them anew on the ampler spaces of the outer court,
now the schoolyard. That it was considered an
improvement at the time is shown by Long Cham-
ber, and not the smaller separate chambers of Win-
chester, having been adopted as the model at the
re-foundation of Westminster by Queen Eliza-
beth, though a Winchester man was made the
first head master. But in the long run it proved
a mistake. The life in Long Chamber became
that of a barracks and a bear-garden, with the
consequence that college at Eton was never full
and the scholarships went begging. Not till
after the middle of the 1 9th century was civiliza-
tion introduced by annexing the master's cham-
bers at the east end and the usher's at the west
end, and cutting Long Chamber up into separate
cubicles.
As soon as the new school and chambers were
finished in 1515-16 the 'old buildings' on the
west side of the quadrangle were pulled down,
and on 2 March 1517 ' the first stone was layd
yn the foundacyon off the west parte of the
college, whereon ys buylded Mr. Provost's logyn
the gate and the lyberary.' The Library is now
Election Chamber (Clark), or Election Hall
(Maxwell Lyte), and the whole range is now the
Provost's lodging, though his front door is to be
found in Weston's Yard. The Lupton Chantry
was completed by 1515 and its chaplain endowed
next year. Lupton's obit was kept from that
time onwards, though he was still alive, on
1 1 January,76 but was changed after his death to
the day on which he died, 27 February. For
presence at it the provost received 2s. 8d.t the
master if. 4^., the usher 8d., and the scholars
and choristers \d. each.
Besides extending the boys' quarters, and, we
may suppose, enlarging the school, Lupton seems
to be entitled to the credit of another most im-
portant innovation, the creation of Playing-fields,
probably the first and certainly the best and
most extensive enjoyed by any school. Thanks
to the latest addition of the magnificent ' Agar's
Plough,' this they still remain. It is certain
that these Playing-fields have had no little share in
making Eton what it is. Before this time it is
probable, as will be shown later a propos of
" Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 105, probably through a
misprint, says 21 Jan.
'73
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
' montem,' that the boys had no place for play
in college, but, like Winchester, marched out
two and two to the nearest hill, Salt Hill, to
play there. The fellows had always enjoyed a
garden, but the boys do not seem to have had
any open space. In 1506—7 we come across
for the first time a mention of Playing-fields by
the college, 4^. being paid 'for clearing the
drain in the boys' fields ' (in eampis puerorum) ;
while in 1510-11 a shilling was paid 'for a pad-
lock and key to the Playing-meadow close ' (pro
sera pensili et clave ad clausuram prati lusorii).
In 1514-15 they appear in English under the
name which they retained for three centuries,
' Playing-leas,' a term which is of course much
more correct than the modern Playing-fields.
The ' clockeeper ' was paid ' for tiling theforica
at the playing-leys.' So in 1523-4 a shilling
was paid to John Grome (the groom) for work-
ing 'in le plaing lees' in carrying out soil for
three days. Frequent references occur after this
to the Playing-leas or Playing-leasowe, which
became an established institution.
Another institution which is perhaps also due
to Lupton, at all events it makes its first appear-
ance in his time, but is now extinct, though it has
been preserved at Westminster, was that of a
yearly play at Christmas.
Throughout the history of the college some-
thing in the nature of theatricals had always
taken place in the boy-bishop ceremony ; while
mummers and strolling players had often per-
formed in hall at Christmas under the name of
minstrels (ministrallii), mimes (mimis)y and actors
(kistrioniius). Thus in 1482-3 is. 8d. was
paid to certain mimes dancing (saltantibus) before
the provost and fellows on 2 January, and in
1505 ' the king's players received ' 2s. But in
1519 we find George the tailor receiving
6s. lod. for ornaments for the play (vestifici pro
ornamento Jusorio), and in 1526—7 the Informator
is paid 14.5. 'for the apparatus of the players at
Christmas,' and a regular stock of clothes appears
to have been kept by the head master for the
purpose, 8s. yd. being paid him ' for repairs of
the clothes of the players' in 1 531-2," and
next year 5*. zd. ' for the clothes for the use of
the players on Christmas day,' which in the
paper draft account, which has also been pre-
served for this year, appears as ' for clothes for
the use of the plays' (pro vestibus ad usum
ludicrorum). We shall see that Nicholas Udal
took a troupe of boys to London to perform a play
before Thomas Cromwell. Even in the Puritan
days of Edward VI we find in 1549 ' 8d. for
making 2 jerkins for players' ; and in 1551 '6
lyncks for the comedy in the haull ' cost 2*., the
comedy or Latin play being no doubt presented
by the head master ; while 6s. 8d. was paid 'to
Mr. Ussher for an Interlude that was played in
" Audit Bk. 2 1 & 22 Hen. VIII. The head master
was Richard Cox.
the haull.' For in the statutes of Westminster
School it was provided that the head master
should present a Latin and the usher an English
play. In Elizabeth's day the play flourished.
Then in 1566-7 we find the entry : ' Spent at
the play in candles 10 Ib. 15^., tenter hookes
for the playe [no doubt to hang the curtains on]
i8d.,' while 'Mr. Scholmasters charges about
the playe last Christmas ' were ' 20*.' A hun-
dred years later, 1663-4, we find : 'Given to
the scholars by consent for acting their comedies
last year, j£i.' When these plays ceased to be
performed does not appear. In the 1 8th century
plays were performed in Long Chamber, and
also by oppidans, but were surreptitious and un-
authorized, if not illegal.
Lupton held the provostry for some thirty years.
In 1527 he founded77* the free grammar school
of Sedbergh, his native place, connecting it with St.
John's College, Cambridge, by six scholarships, for
which j£6oo was given to the college, and by vest-
ing in the college the appointment of the master,
adding in 1537 another ^400 for two fellowships
and two more scholarships. The school, re-
covered from the clutches of Edward VI through
the fiery eloquence of Dr. Thomas Lever, Presi-
dent of St. John's, and re-endowed with the
fragments of several chantries, attained great fame
in the I7th century, and is now again so pros-
perous that it is sometimes called the Eton of the
North.
In 1531 Lupton, as provost, had to carry out
an exchange with Henry VIII, by which the
college gave the king St. James's Hospital in the
Field with 185^ acres belonging to it, 64 acres
south and 94 acres north of the high road from
Charing Cross to Eye (? Hay) Hill, and 1 2 acres
at Knightsbridge. The college reserved the
outlying lands of the hospital at Hampstead, the
White Bear (Bere) in West Cheap, and a house
in Westminster. The grant to the king was
made on 24 December 1531. Two days after
they received in exchange the manor of ' Bawd-
wyns ' at Dartford in Kent, and the rectory of
Newington, and lands at Chattisham, Suffolk,
which had been possessions of monasteries sup-
pressed by Wolsey and given to his college at
Ipswich. So that once again Eton was endowed
out of dissolved monasteries. The transaction
has been misrepresented as a sort of robbery, and
a rhyme, ' Henricus octavus took away more than
he gave us,' is quoted as if it proved the case.
The rhyme, however, is evidently modern, and
only one of the usual libels on Henry VIII
founded on ignorance and prejudice. The ex-
change was no robbery. The immediate result
of it was to increase the income of the college by
some j£S5 a year, equivalent to at least £1,100
a year to-day, while their only increased expense
was for the rent of ^3 6s. 8d. for the provost's
house near Westminster. Apparently the college
77a Leach, Early Torks. Schools, ii, 289-335.
174
SCHOOLS
no longer used the hospital as a provost's residence ;
at least for the previous fifteen years it, or a great
part of it, had been let to Mr. Peter Carmeliano
at the very large rent of £5 a year, and after-
wards to Archdeacon Magnus, who was much
employed as ambassador to Scotland. They got
nothing from the lands, which went to the
maintenance of the sisters of the hospital. A
* robbery ' was in a sense committed, in that
Henry VIII suppressed the useless leper hospital to
turn it into a palace. But Eton was particefn cri-
minisy as it now derived rents from the lands of the
hospital which had previously gone to support its
inmates. The college paid the pension to one
of the sisters, Anne or Agnes, but as that was
only 131. \d. a year, the burden was not great.
At that time no one could anticipate that 200
years afterwards the fields round the leper hospital
would become valuable building land, seeing that
even when Burlington House was built in the
1 8th century it was purposely built as at an
ultima Thule, beyond which no houses could
go. Moreover, as both the Dartford and the
Hampstead land are now selling at building
prices far higher than those which would have
been reached by a sale of St. James's Street a
century and a half ago, the present benefit is
greater also.
Lupton resigned the provostry of Eton in
1535, retaining his canonry at Windsor, the
rectories of Caistor, Brancepeth, Skipton, Hazle-
ton, and the chapel of Ascot. In his latter days
he was accused to Cromwell of divers ecclesiastical
and moral offences, which he repudiated with
scorn in a letter of 29 January 1540: 'I beg
your favour. I have lived 83$ years and have
been taken for an honest man, and now a sort of
light men inform you to the contrary. But I
will be reported by all the honest men of Eton
and Windsor ' ; and again on 3 February : ' How
can any man of my age offend in that thing which
is laid to my charge ? I will be judged by any
1 2 honest persons in Windsor and Eton.' On
23 February 1540 he made his will. Besides
his obits at Eton and Sedbergh, he now provided
for an obit at St. John's College, Cambridge.
He gave £16 131. \d,
to be bestowed in ij dinners in Eton Hall, one at the
day of my burial], and another at my monthes mind.
To buy blacke govvnes for 20 poore men that here
torches at the day of my buriall, £10. Item to be
distributed to Mr. Provost of Eton, the masters [i.e.
fellows], scholemaster, preistes, clerkes, children [i.e.
scholars], quiristers [choristers], officers of the college
and children of the town at my day of buriall and
monethes mynde in manner and forme followinge,
£19 1 6s. SJ. ; first to the Provost the day of my
buryall 1 3/. \d. ; item, to 7 masters and the scole-
master lot. a piece, £4; item to the chaplcins and
usher 3/. ^J. a piece, 3 j/. 4^. ; item to 3 score and
10 children of the colledge and quiristers, i6</. a pcce,
£4 1 3/. tfd. ; item, to a hundreth children of the
town, %J. a pece, £3 61. %J.
There were also to be forty ' straunge preists '
to sing mass ; and ' to poore folkes at Eton \d. a
pece, j£io,' so that there were fifty of them.
Similar gifts of half the amount were to be given
at his month's mind. This is the first mention
of oppidans in the English form of ' children of
the town,' still in use at Westminster, and the
first indication of any large number being at
Eton. From no separate mention being made of
'commoners* in college, if they were not pur-
posely ignored on account of their rank and riches,
it follows that they must have been included in
the 100 'town boys.'
On the retirement of John Smythe at
Michaelmas 1507 John Goldyve, Etonian and
Kingsman, came as head master. He seems,
however, to have been fetched from Oxford, as
Mr. Arderne's expenses to Oxford to inquire for
a new ' Preceptor ' were 31. id. ; and Thomas
the butler rode there with letters for the said
'Preceptor,' and Mr. 'Gowldyffe* himself was
paid los. for coming 'for the said office of Pre-
ceptor.' He retired in 1510, and in 1521 is
found, like his predecessor Bradbridge, pre-
bendary of Highley at Chichester and master of
the grammar school there. Thomas Philips,
master for a year in 1510-11, is probably the
Thomas Phylyppys who took his M.A. degree at
Oxford I February 1508-9 and afterwards sup-
plicated forhisB.C.L. 7 May 1524. In Thomas
Erlysman, who was fetched from Oxford and
received 101. for his expenses at his first coming
at Michaelmas 1511, Winchester and New
College again furnished a head master, who, like
Clement Smythe and Herman, was promoted to
the head-mastership of Winchester, viz. at Lady
Day 1515, where he stayed for ten years.
Robert Colyar, the hostiarius under him, gave
place at Christmas 1512 to George Hals or
Hale, who also was sought for at Oxford, and
had a competitor, ' Sir ' Risby, who received 5*.
for coming for the office of hostiarius. After a
year and a half Hale took the better-paid post
of chantry chaplain of Provost Bost. John
Holonde or Holland (King's 1506) succeeded
and held for three or four years. But Michael-
mas 1520 found Henry Halked/8 head of the
roll to King's in 1513, in his stead. In Feb-
ruary 1521 he was followed by Thomas Pery,
an Eton scholar, whose name is preserved as
such, because he was ill in 1514—15. His suc-
cessor, Robert Aldrich, or Aldryge, as he is
generally spelt, was an Etonian and Kingsman,
on the roll of 1507. He had at least one noble
pupil in Richard Lord Grey of Ruthyn, who is
commemorated by a brass in Eton Chapel.
Aldrich is said to have taught ' according to the
old Winchester system.' This is likely enough,
but the passage in the life of Sir Thomas Smith
on which this statement is based refers, not to
" He appears in Alumni Eton, as Halhcad and Hal-
stead.
'75
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Eton, but to Saffron Walden School, at which
Smith is said to have been educated. Aldrich
left Eton after six years' teaching to go on an
embassy to France and the pope. On Lupton's
resignation in 1535 he was, in compliance with
a royal mandate, elected provost, the first, and,
for almost exactly 200 years, the only Etonian
and Kingsman to become provost. Next year
he was appointed to the bishopric of Carlisle,
which he held with the provostry in breach of
all custom, consecration to a bishopric vacating
all other preferment. He was also almoner to
Queen Jane (Seymour), and when she died
solemnly received her body on its passage through
Eton to Windsor. He was succeeded as master
at Lady Day 1521 by yet another Wykehamist,
Thomas White, scholar of Winchester 1508, of
New College 1513 to 1520. The identity is
made sure, in spite of the commonness of the
name, by the protocol at New College, which
states that his successor was appointed in place
of him ' promoti ad informandum pueros Etone,'
while Robert Walker's costs in riding to Oxford
with letters for him were 2s. id. John Gold-
wyn79 succeeded White at Lady Day 1525.
His provenance has not been traced. As usher
he had John Barons, who, having come in
February 1524, stayed no less than four and a
. half years, to Midsummer 1528. Goldwyn
enjoys the distinction of having had his time-
table preserved, thus furnishing the first authentic
information of the Eton curriculum. A free
grammar school had been maintained at Cuck-
field in Sussex from about 1504 by Edmund
Flower, citizen and merchant tailor of London,
which in 1521 he endowed by his will. The
endowment, being worth only some ,£6 ids. a
year, was augmented by William Spicer, rector
of the neighbouring parish of Balcombe, with a
new endowment, producing another £5 a year,
and settled by a deed of i October 1528. This
provided that the schoolmaster 'shall teach the
scholars in the said school grammar after the
form, order, and usage taught in the Grammar
School at Eton near Windsor, from form to
form, according to the acts and rules there made,
kept, and used, and to keep the houres of learn-
ing in the said school.' Annexed to the deed
was the oath of the master in seven items, the
last binding him to teach ' after the form and
usage taught in the Grammar School of Eton,
the which form for this time is as it followeth.'
The ' Form ' 80 is fortunately preserved at Cuck-
79 Maxwell Lyte, op. cit. 105, quoting Strype's
Life of Sir T. Smith, 6.
80 Though printed in Carlisle's End. Gram. Schools
(ii, 594) in 1818, it has escaped the notice of all the
Eton historians, as the first authentic curriculum of
Eton. Carlisle's copy contains several mistakes of his
own in addition to those in the Vicar's Book. They
are corrected in the abstract now given. Cf. V.C.H.
Suss, ii, 417.
field, though only in a copy, in ' the Vicar's
Book,' an MS. written about 1626 ; it contains
some evident mistakes arising from misreading
of the originals. The mere fact that a tailor
and a parson could endow a school to be carried
on like Eton shows how little at this time the
great and famous ' Public ' schools differed from
other grammar schools, to which the local gentry
flocked, and where they enjoyed the same kind
of teaching as the great schools and sometimes
perhaps better teachers.
The ' Form ' shows that there were six Forms,
and below Form I ' the children first beginning
the grammar.' These last were to ' read the
accidence of Mr. Stanbridge,' a famous Wyke-
hamist, first usher of Magdalen College School
and afterwards master of Banbury School, which
Bishop Oldham in 1515 made the model for
Manchester Grammar School. After many
centuries Stanbridge's grammar had superseded
' Old Donatus.' In this the boys were to be
' diligently exercised every working-day and
upon . . . Saturday in the morning every one
of them rehearse and render by heart all the
lessons they have learned all the week before,
and if Saturday be holyday, then the said render
be made the working day before.'
It is ordained also that every working-day, Friday
and Saturday except, one of the 8 parts of Reason
[i.e. parts of speech], with the verb according to the
same, that is to say, Nomen with Amo, Pronomen
with Amor, and so forth, be said by heart by all the
learners of the accidence, if they have learnt that part,
and of all the First, Second, and Third Forms.
This -was to be ' by and by after 6 of the clock '
in summer and 7 in winter. ' After the part
done the learners of the accidence shall labour
their lessons, which lesson the Master shall hear
more often or more seldom after his discretion
and to the more profit of the scholars.'
Form I were to learn Stanbridge's English
Rules called the ' Parvula.'
These rules shall be said by and by after the Part
done, and upon repeating the rules the Master shall
cause them to make small and easy Latins, proper and
such as the children may understand and have a
delight in.
Form II the same, ' except that the Master may
by his discretion add more matter to the Latin
for the Second Form.'
These Latins must be so given that the children
may write81 them before breakfast. After their
breakfast one of the next Form above, by the Master's
assigning, shall read to them one Rule for the next
day and in the Master's presence ; upon which the
scholars of this Form shall apply themselves to the
understanding construing saying and answering to the
parts of their Latins unto the dinner-hour fn a.m.].
If the Master's discretion shall think the babies
able easily to overcome it, he may give them also.
I76
81 Not as in Carlisle, End. Gram. Schools, ' recite.'
SCHOOLS
*ome Latin words from Stanbridge's Collection, or
small and light matter in Latin to be rendered by the
Babies by and by after one of the clock ; which done,
after a convenient pause, the said babies shall render
their Latins by heart, construe them and answer to
the part of them.
This applied to the first four days of the
week. On Friday they were to say Sum, a,fui,
or some other verb out of the rules. Then they
were to be examined in the understanding of the
rules learnt in the week and say them by heart
in the afternoon.
If the Master" have time sufficient before the time
of breakfast the Master, or some Scholar of an higher
form in the presence of the Master, shall declare to
them one little piece of the Pater Noster, or the Ave
M.iri.i, the Credo or the Treatise of the Manners
called a Quos decet in mensa, or the Ten Command-
ments, the Seven Deadly Sins, or the Five Witts,*4 or
some other proper saying in Latin meet for the
Babies, and especially such as is meet for Christian
People to learn, as the Articles of Our Belief or any-
thing like.
On Saturday before breakfast Form I 'ren-
dered ' their ' one little piece ' of religious in-
struction, ' construed it and answered to parts of
it.' After breakfast they rendered their Latins
learnt in the week. ' At afternoon they shall
learn to write or read Legends, or the Psalter,
to become more prompt in reading.' Not, be
it observed, for the sake of 'religious instruction,
but for the enunciation.
In the second form the scholars shall read the
genders'* of Whittington and after them done the
Heteroclites of Whittington. These rules shall be
said in the morning and by and by one lesson shall
be read unto them for next day and they shall learn
Latins with the Pint Form. After their breakfast a
lecture of Cato after the new interpretation shall be
read unto them, which they shall construe again at
afternoon and answer to the parts of it, which done
they shall say their Latins by heart, construe them
and parse them. Upon Friday after breakfast they
shall render their rules ; and at afternoon . . . their
constructions. On Saturday they shall say and render
all things with the first form.
In the third form the rules shall be the Preter-
tenses* and Supines of Whittington, and after these
done the Defectives of the said Whittington. They
shall have Latins. Their constructions shall be of
Terence or of Erasmus's Similitudes or of his familiar
communication called Colloquia Erasmi.
In the Fourth form they shall have for their Rules
the Regiments of Whittington which he calleth Con-
"' Not as in Carlisle, ' If they may have sufficient
time before breakfast.'
* Not as in Carlisle, ' verses for the Mariners,
called Quos dicet in mensa.'
** i.e. the five senses.
" Not as in Carlisle, ' gradus.'
M Sic. It was no doubt Preterites in the original,
but the copyist of 1626 could not read the writing
of i oo yean before.
cinnitates Grammatices. They shall have Latin
constructions and other things except rules with the
third form to the intent that the better learned may
instruct the less learned.
In the Fifth Form they shall read the Versifying
Rules. They shall have w or Ovid's Epistles.
In the stead of Latins they shall construe Virgil,
Sallust or Horace or any other meet for them ; and
for their better exercise they shall male every week
verses and epistles.
It is remarkable that the latest thing in classical
schools to-day is to return to this practice of
remitting verse-making and original Latin prose
to Form V. Form VI 'have for their rules
Copiam Erasmi,' i.e. Erasmus's book on copious-
ness of diction, ' wherein it is taught to make
88 ; all other things they shall read with the
Fifth Form.'
In every Form
the Rules shall be said in the morning, and by and by
more rules given unto them ; after 9 of the clock
the constructions shall be given them ; after I of the
clock the constructions shall be heard ; about 3 of
the clock the Latin shall be rendered.
The master may begin to hear the First Form if it
pleaseth him, so that the tender babes and young
scholars be not forslowed,** but ever taught plainly
and substantially, soberly and discreetly entreated,
and handled without rigour or hastiness in deed word
and countenance. The Master also must attend
that his scholars keep a due and whole pronunciation
of their words without precipitation, and that they
speak Latin in every place.
Considering the way that pronunciation and
enunciation are now almost wholly neglected in
schools, which to make up for the neglect have
to start Debating Societies and Shakespeare
Readings, and these only attended by a select
few, it is by no means clear that we have not
something to learn in the way of school teach-
ing from the much decried scholars of pro-
Reformation times.
Next comes the usual fulmination against
holidays :
The Scholars shall have no Remedy but once a week,
and that shall never be on the Friday ; and also after
2 of the clock, because they may render most of their
learning, or they depart the school, without*0 the
assent of one of the Controlers.
The word ' remedy,' rtmtdium laboris, for holi-
day is now confined to Winchester.
Lastly, to show that the imitation of Eton
" This blank is a proof that the copyist of 1626
could not read the older writing properly.
* Again the copyist could not read the old writing.
* Si(. Not as in Carlisle, ' forestowed.' But it is
possible that the 17th-century copyist has misread
the word, as ' forslowed ' does not seem to have much
more meaning than ' forestowed.'
* Not as in Carlisle, ' with.'
»77
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
was not to be a mere demonstration at starting,
it was provided
That these acts and orders do continue until such
time as the Controlers be notified of others being
taught in Eton more profitable to scholars ; then it
is lawful to the Controlers to add to the forms that
be more profitable and to leave what are not profit-
able at their discretion.
In 1529" came Richard Cox, the fourth
Etonian and Kingsman to become master.
Born at Whaddon, Buckinghamshire,92 he went
from Eton to King's in 1519, taking his B.A.
degree 1523-4. Wolsey made him a junior
canon of his new Cardinal College at Oxford,
so he took his M.A. degree there, 2 July 1526.
He first appears in the Eton audit book as
Informator for the year beginning Michaelmas
1529, with Edmund Janson or Jonson, a Win-
chester and New College man, who had come
a term before, as Hostiarius ; and he continued
there till 1535. The ushers under him after
Jonson were William Pury or Pery, Michaelmas
1532 to Midsummer 1533 ; and William Bag-
ley, who had gone to King's in 1527, from
Midsummer 1533. On retirement from the
mastership Cox returned to Cambridge, and took
his B.D. degree in 1535, and his D.D. in 1537.
On 24 November 1540, he was made Arch-
deacon of Ely on the king's appointment. He
was one of the commissioners for making statutes
for the cathedrals of the new foundation estab-
lished by Henry VIII, on the dissolution of the
monastic chapters and monasteries, and was him-
self made a canon on the new foundation of
Ely. He was designated Bishop of Southwell
when that collegiate church was intended to be
converted into a cathedral ; but the execution of
the intention was deferred for 335 years. On
8 January 1543-4 he became dean of the new
Oxford cathedral at Oseney, and, when it was
abolished, Dean of Christ Church, which he
scandalized by introducing a wife. He was
tutor and then almoner to Edward VI, first as
prince then as king ; Canon of Windsor 1548 ;
Dean of Westminster 1549. On Mary's in-
coming he was sent to the Tower for treason,
but let out, though deprived of all his prefer-
ments. He fled to Frankfort. On Elizabeth's
accession he returned to become Bishop of Ely
29 July 1559, took an active part in the con-
troversies of the reign, and died 22 July 1581.
That he was a good Latin verse writer is shown
by his correspondence with Walter Haddon, his
pupil at Eton (on the roll for King's 1533), who
had written from his sick bed : —
Vix caput attollens e lecto scribere carmen
Qui vult, is voluit scribere plura. Vale.
" Not 1528, as Maxwell Lyte.
" In Cooper, Athen. Cant., he is absurdly guessed
to have ' had his first education in the small Benedic-
tine Priory of St. Leonard Snelshall, Whaddon,' as if
Benedictine priories taught outsiders.
Dr. Cox to Walter Haddon his scholar : —
Te magis optarem salvum sine carmine, fill,
Quam sine te salvo carmina multa. Vale.
By a fortunate accident a curriculum of Eton
during Cox's term of office has been preserved in
the town records of Saffron Walden, in Essex.
There had long been a grammar school there,
the monoply of which was asserted in I423-93
By deed 3 December 1517, John Leche, vicar
of that place, possibly the Winchester scholar of
that name in 1445, endowed the Trinity Gild,
which he had assisted to found three years before,
'with land for a priest so that' when the gild
' be abill to make the seid service worth £ i o a
year . . . the seid preest shalbe a profound
gramarion, to thintent that he may teche gramar
within the towne of Waldeyn, after the rourme
of the scole of Winchester or of Eton.' The
endowment did rot take effect till his sister,
Dame Jane Bradbury, by deed of 18 May 1525,
gave further endowment, and appointed William
Dawson, clerk, 'approvyd as an able syngyng
man and a profound gramarion, accordyng to
the mynd of Master Leche ' with proviso that
every future master should be 'a suffycyent
grammarion to tech chyldren grammer after the
order and use of techyng grammer in the
scolys of Wynchester and Eton.'
To ensure this someone at Walden obtained
from the head masters of Winchester and Eton
copies of their ' Order and Use,' and they were
solemnly entered in the Mayor's book. They
were printed by Thomas Wright, the celebrated
antiquary,94 in 1853, as ' Rules of the Free School
of Saffron Walden,' and even Sir Henry Max-
well Lyte quotes them 95 as made for that school
' when Richard Cox an Etonian was master.'
But it is clear that Cox was never master there,
but being master at Eton in 1530 he furnished
Dawson with a copy of the Eton ' use.' As the
document is of the first importance in the history
of English education, it is now given in full, as
corrected from the original.
THIS vs THE ORDER OF THE SAME SCHOLE USYD BY
ME RICHARD Cox, SCHOLEMASTER.
They come to schole at vj of the Clok in ye morn-
yng & they say Deus misereatur with a Colecte ; at
ix they say De profundis & go to brekefaste. With
* Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. viii, App. 281.
M Arch, xxxiv, 37.
95 Hist. Eton Coll. (and ed. 1899), 147. Thanks
to Mr. Bryan Ackland, who enabled me to see the
original, it was shown apropos of the Winchester
' order ' that Richard Cox and John Twichencr, mis-
printed Twithen by Wright, were the masters of Eton
and Winchester respectively, who furnished the orders
of their schools to Walden as model in 1530 ; V.C.H.
Hants, ii, 298 ; and V.C.H. Essex, ii, 21. In
Etonlana, May 1907, a correct description of the
document is given, but the document itself is repro-
duced with all its mistakes from Archaeologia.
I78
SCHOOLS
in a quarter of an howre cum ageyne & tary . . . xi
& then to dyner, at T to toper afore an An theme &
De profundis.
Two Prepositores in every forme, whiche doth
give in a ichrowe the absents namys .it any lecture &
shewith when & at what tyme, both in the fore none
for the tyme paste, & at v.
Also ij Prepositon in the body of the Chirche,
ij in the qwere, flbr tpekyng of Laten in the thrcd
forme & all other, every one a custos, & in every
howse a monytor.
Whan they go home ij. and ij. in order, a monitor
to se that they do toe tyll they come at there hostise
dore.
Also prevy monyton how many the Mr wylle.
Prepositores in the feld whan they play, for fyght-
yng, rent clothes, blew eyes, or siche like.
Prepositores for yll kept hedys, unwasshid facys,
fbwle clothis & sich other.
YfF there be iiij or v in a howse, monytors for
chydyngand for Latyn ipekyng.
When any dothe come newe, the master doth inqre
fro when* he comyth, what frendys he hathe whether
there be any plage. No man gothe owte off the
schole, nother home to his frends with owt the
masters lycense. YfF there be any dullard the Mr
gyvith his frends warnyng and puttyth hjrm away that
he sclander not the Schole.
By me, Richard Cox, Scholcm'.
As regards the curriculum it is interesting to
note that when once change began in the
schools it continued. Stanbridge's Accidence and
Parvula still reigned in the lower forms. But,
in the short interval which had elapsed since the
Eton use was furnished to Cuckfteld in 1524,
for the higher grammar Whittington's gram-
mar, in consequence perhaps of his quarrel with
Horman, who was still a fellow and vice-provost
of Eton, had been deposed in favour of Lily's
grammar, which, afterwards as ' the king's
grammar ' and the ' Eton Latin Grammar '
reigned as despotically in English schools as
Donatus had done, with almost the authority of
verbal inspiration, until 1850. The pseudo-
Cato's Maralta was still the first Latin Book.
Terence, Ovid, Virgil, Sallust, Horace, Cicero,
were still the only books read by the higher
forms. As the boys still began rchool with Deut
misereatur, sang De profundit before breakfast, and
sang it again with an anthem at 5 p.m., we can
hardly say that the omission in the 'use* of any
reference to the Ave Maria and the Seven
Deadly Sins mentioned in the Cuckfield ' Form '
is due to the spirit of Reformation. But the
introduction of the Dutch Despauterius and the
German Mosellanus points to the re-importation
—
Mondays
Tewyadaye
Wedenytdaye
Thuridayt
Frydaye
Saterdaye
The ffyrat forme
Parte of Sunbrid
ge accidence ere
Tf mornjrng with
the Second, thri
d ic fowrth forme
Idem
Idem
Idem
Quoi decet in
menu at the
after none Sc ren
deryng of
Rulei
Quoi decet
in Mrnia at the after
none Render
Litynyi
Inititutionei pinrulorum Voca
hula. And aUo Latynea
The Seconde forme
ftabulae Aeiopi,
Genera Lilii
Idem
Idem
Idem
Cato | at the
after none
Cato and
at the after
Latynya fewer
tymya in the wcke
Render rnlyi
none render Litynyi and
Vulgarea
The thrid fforme
Terence
Preterita Lilii
Idem
Idem
Idem
Moit proper Hymmyi
And at the after
Propereit hymya
And at the
Latynya
none rendre rulyi
after none ren>
der Litynyi
And Vulgart
The foorthe forme
Terentiut,
Octo partea Lilii
Latynt (wiet
every weke
Idem
Idem
Idem ,
Vergilii buccolica
in the mornyng
at the after none
render rulyi
Vergilii hue
olica at after
none rendre
Litynyi It Vulgara
The fyflhe forme
Wrytyng of a
theme, Silui
tiut, Vtnifyeng
rulyi drawne
owte of dei pan
teriui other modui conic
The lame
lave they
make veriei
The lame
uve they make
nothyng
Epiitole tullii
makyng of epittlei
beiide
Saluitiui
Vergilii Eneia
in the mornyng
at the after none
rendering of rulci
lerayd the hole
weke
Vergilii Eneia
repetyng of Latyna
& Vulgan Icrnyd
that weke
ribendi epii
toln
The ayite (Forme
* the
Sevenihc forme
Horatiui or
tnlliua,
moaellanyi figure* or Copia
renim et Terborum
of Eraamui
All lyke Monday
lave they make
ver«ei
Like ai
afore
aave they
make nothyog
Epiitole
Tullii
Making of
Eplli
beiid«
Vergilii Eneia
in the mornyng
At the after none
rendryng of rulci
lernid the hole
Vergilii Eneia
repetyng of
Latyni A Vulgara
lernyd all ye
wek«
Horatiui
weke
Every quarter one fortenyght every forme rendryth all thyngi lernyd that quarter
179
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
of Lollardism in the form of Lutheranism, which
had already undermined Romanism in England.
Despauterius, or Despautier, calls himself Nini-
vita, and was master of the school of St. Ginnocus
at Bergis or Bergen-op-Zoom ; he published the
first edition of his An Ephtollca at Argentora
(i.e. Strasburg) in 1512, and a second at Antwerp
in 1529. The over-refining classification of the
schoolmen still prevails in it, letters being divided
into three classes — the descriptive, the political,
and the familiar ; while each letter is made to
comprise a salutation, a statement, a petition, and
a valediction, as if all letters were begging
letters. Mosellanus, so called because born on
the Moselle, was Peter Schade, a schoolmaster of
Leipzig. His Paedologia, Latin dialogues be-
tween schoolboys and students on their work,
their play, their poverty, and their religion, was
written when, though only twenty-five years old,
he had already been master of the school for
eight years. They are extremely entertaining,
and though only published in 1521, three years
after Luther's theses, scoff at such ceremonials as
that of Candlemas Day and the boy-bishop. On
the former Valerius asks Nicholas : ' Why have
you not a candle ? ' To which Nicholas an-
swers : ' How could I, when I have not enough
money to buy food ? If I were at home my
mother would have bought me these baubles
soon enough ! ' Valerius : ' How dare you
laugh at sacred things ? ' Nicholas : ' Why
not ? I shall not be a heretic even if I don't
carry a candle ... it would be more pleasing
to Christ if the money wasted on candles were
spent on poor relief.' As to the boy-bishop,
' What's the good of it ' — says one boy ; ' Why
none, except that you get an uncommonly good
dinner,' replies the other. Mosellanus's Flgurae
are terribly detailed excursuses on the figures of
speech written in Latin hexameters. The book
begins : —
' Arte novata aliqua dicendi forma figura est.
Sunt ejus species metaplasmus, schema, tro-
pusque ;
Schemata dant species tibi lexeos et dianeas.'
Mosellanus goes on to express scorn for his pre-
decessors who sacrificed metre to sense, but as he
only avoided the fault by interlarding his dis-
course with Romanized Grecisms, of which,
being a novelty, he was excessively proud, the
learner might perhaps think that in the new
writer he had fallen out of the frying pan into
the fire. The use of the words schema, lexeos,
and dianeas shows how Greek had already made
its way in schools. It may be noted that Mosel-
lanus's predecessor, as teacher of Greek at Leipzig,
was an Englishman and an Etonian, Richard
Crook.
The Quos decet in mensa, out of which the
boys learnt at the same time manners, morals,
and verse, was the work of Sulpicius, a grammar
schoolmaster at Rome in the 1 5th century. It
got its name from its beginning : —
' Quos decet in mensa mores servare docemus,
Virtuti ut studeas litterulisque simul.'
Good manners for the table here we tell,
To make our scholars gentlemen as well.
In elegant elegiacs are set out all the good old
nursery rules as to behaviour. Before meals you
are to wash your hands and face and clean your
teeth. At meals do not rush to your place ;
when you cough, spit or blow your nose, turn
your head away. Don't put your elbows on the
table, don't champ your jaws when eating, don't
take large mouthfuls, don't bite your bread but
cut it, don't gnaw your bones. Remember that
you eat to live and do not live to eat (' Esse
decet vivas, vivere non ut edas '). Did Sulpicius
invent this famous epigram ? In drinking, only
lift the cup with one hand, unless it is of the
kind that Theseus or Bel used to hurl at an
enemy ; don't look over it while you drink, don't
swallow too fast, or drain the pot, or whistle in
drinking. Wipe the cup. When you leave the
table, bend your knee, join your hands and say
' Prosit' for grace. There are other com-
monplaces of the manners that make man.
There was nothing new in all this except the
setting. It is found in Facetus, a pseudonym of
Johannes de Garlandia, a 13th-century writer of
a Latin-English vocabulary and a treatise on
manners, a copy of which was presented by Wil-
liam of Wykeham to Winchester College. He
is said to have been an Englishman, and his book
was frequently printed in England from 1500
onwards. No doubt it, too, descended from
immemorial antiquity.
Not the least interesting part of Richard Cox's
memorandum is that setting out the disciplinary
and domestic arrangements. Herman's Bulgaria
showed that the prefect system, the system of
self-government of boys by boys was in full
operation, the prefects being called prepostors.
There were two school prepostors ; four prepos-
tors of chapel, two in the choir, two in the body
of the church ; prepostors in the playing-fields,
to put down fighting, tearing of clothes and
giving of blue, or, as we say, black eyes ; prepos-
tors to look after dirty boys. Then there were
two prepostors in each form to give in a scroll of
those absent, and a custos in every form above
the third to see that they talked nothing but
Latin. There were separate houses, dames or
' hostise's ' houses, to which the boys had to
march two and two under a monitor ; and in
every house having more than four or five in it,
a monitor to stop chiding or wrangling and to
enforce talking Latin. Finally there were ' privy
monitors,' a sort of delators or spies, a most un-
pleasing institution in mediaeval schools, much
attacked in Mosellanus's dialogues, to report secretly
misbehaviour to the master. It would appear
180
SCHOOLS
that the prepostors were not themselves to keep
order or punish so much as to report delinquents
to the master. That the reports were not with-
out results we may gather from the character
given of Cox by Walter Haddon, already men-
tioned," in the conversation on flogging in
schools reported by Roger Ascham, which was
the occasion of his Scholemaster. The Secretary
of State, Sir William Cecil, having expressed
himself against flogging, Mr. Peters*7 had argued
that it was both necessary and useful : ' the rod
was the sword of justice of the school.' ' Then,'
writes Ascham, ' Mr. Haddon was fullie of Mr.
Peters' opinion and said " That the best schole
master of our time was the greatest beater," and
named the person. " Though," quoth I, " it
was his good fortune to send from his schole
unto the university one of the best scholers in-
deede of our time, yet wise men do thincke that
that came so to pass, rather by the great toward-
nesse of the scholer than by the great beating of
the master ; and whether this be true or no, you
yourselfe arc best witness." ' This ' best schole-
master ' and ' greatest beater ' is commonly said
to be Udal. But it is quite clear that Ascham
was referring to Haddon himself, who was solely
Cox's pupil. If Haddon had meant Udal, who
•was then dead, Ascham would not have hesitated
to give his name ; but Cox was still alive and a
bishop, and therefore for obvious reasons the
name was suppressed. The mistaken reference
to Udal was originally made by James Bennett,
* master of the Boarding-School at Hoddesdon in
Hertfordshire,' in his edition of Ascham's Works
in 1 761,** and has been blindly repeated ever
since. Udal, as will be seen, was no sparer of
the rod. But Cox must have the credit, or
otherwise, of being reputed by an old pupil the
best schoolmaster and greatest beater of his age.
It is a grievous pity that Cox did not, as his
Elizabethan successor Malim did, give a time-
table of the year as well as the week, an account
of the feasts and holidays as well as the work.
In Malim's time many of the feasts, and the
customs connected with them, which in Cox's
time before the Reformation were still fresh, are
recorded as obsolete or obsolescent. The net
result was that hard as the whole-school-days
•were, each a ten-hours' day, there were only five
or indeed four of them a week ; and there were
so many feasts that hardly a week could have
passed without at least one whole or half holiday.
For every greater feast day was a whole holiday,
and on every eve of the ' greater doubles,' feast
* Haddon, scholar of Eton, fellow of King's, after
being master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and presi-
dent of Magdalen College, Oxford, was now a master
of the Court of Requests and Dean of Arches.
" Peters or Pctre was a Secretary of State under
Edward and Elizabeth.
" Thi Eng/. H'orki of Rogtr Aicham (Lond. R. and
J. Dodsley, 1761), 141 n.
days on which double rations were enjoyed, there
was a partial holiday, no work being done after
dinner at 1 1 a.m. Most of the greater doubles were
the same everywhere, but certain of them varied
with the diocese, the local saints enjoying special
days. The greater doubles at Eton were I Janu-
ary, the Circumcision ; 6 January, the Epiphany ;
2 February, the Purification of the Virgin ; 25
March, the Annunciation ; then came Easter,
Whitsuntide, Corpus Christ! Day, i.e. Thursday
after Whitsuntide ; 24 June, Birth of St. John
Baptist; 29 June, St. Peter and St. Paul; I August,
St. Peter ad Vincula ; 1 5 August, the Assumption
of the Virgin ; 8 September, the Nativity of the
Virgin ; I November, All Saints' Day ; 30 No-
vember, St. Andrew's Day ; Christmas Day, and
the four following days, the last being the day of
St. Thomas the Martyr. In Lincoln diocese
there was also St. Hugh's Day, 17 November;
and at schools St. Nicholas's Day, the boy-bishop's
day. Again, Ash Wednesday was given up, not to
lessons, but to confession to the fellows or con-
ducts, each boy choosing his own confessor. On
the obit of William Wayneflete, 13 January,
every boy received id. ; on 7 February, the obit
of Provost Bost, there was a half holiday ; on
27 February, the obit of Roger Lupton, every boy
received id. and there was a holiday from dinner-
time (n a.m.) ; and on 26 May, the obit of
Henry VI, every boy had zd. In Malim's time
apparently only one memorial day of Henry VI
was observed, but previously, as at Winchester
for Wykeham, an obit was kept each quarter.
At Easter the school did not break up, though,
to judge from Winchester, there were extensive
exeats for those who could go home. For all
there was a ten-days' holiday (cessatum a put/ids
itudiis) from Wednesday in ' Holy Week,' which,
in Malim's account, means the week in which
Good Friday falls, to the Monday after Easter,
except that on ' work days ' they had writing
lessons beginning on Wednesday. Maundy
Thursday was a holiday. Those who commu-
nicated sat at table by themselves, had a better
dinner, and leave out afterwards to wander over
the fields, only they were not to go into taverns
or beer shops. On Good Friday, in Malim's
day, there was a writing lesson before 9 a.m. and
a sermon from the head master at I p.m. But
these were post-Reformation observances. On
Saturday before Easter Malim records that ' while
the custom flourished ' of the Easter Sepulchre,
three or four of the eldest boys chosen by the
master at the request of the sacrist watched
round the sepulchre with wax lights and torches,
' lest the Jews should steal the Lord,' or, as he
adds with a sceptical Protestant touch, ' more
probably to prevent any damage from negligence
in looking after the lights.' On May Day,
St. Philip and St. James, those who wished got
up at 4 a.m. to gather boughs of may ; but with
a curiously grandmotherly care, which shows a
181
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
very different spirit from that commonly imputed
to ourscholastic ancestors, the licence was coupled
with the proviso ' that they do not wet their feet.'
The windows of Long Chamber were then hung
with may and herbs. In writing verses at this
time they might write English ones on 'the
flowery sweetness of Spring time,' as long as they
included something adapted from Virgil, Ovid,
or Horace. ' St. John Lateran before the Latin
gate,' 6 May, * brings many advantages, for from
now after dinner they had a siesta in school,
until the prepostor of hall and the ostiarius " call
out " Get up " (Surgite) at 3 p.m., when they
have beavers or bever,' an interval for drinking
beer, the equivalent of the modern afternoon tea.
Malim recalls the line : ' Porta Latina pilam,
pulvinar, pocula prestat,' i.e. ' St. John Lateran's
day brings the cricket ball, the couch, the drink.'
Ascension Day began the summer holidays,
which lasted till the day before Corpus Christi
Day, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, anyone
not present at evening chapel on that day being
flogged. On St. John the Baptist's birthday,
i.e. Midsummer Day, Malim records as extinct
the custom, which flourished no doubt under Cox,
for all the scholars to go after evening prayers to
a bonfire, made in the open space at the east end
of chapel, and then, after the choir had sung
their anthems, to a bever. On the eve of that
day the boys adorned their chambers with pic-
tures and verses on the ' life and gests of the
Forerunner,' which they wrote out with illumi-
nations and stuck at the foot of their beds. As
it was nearly nine before they went to bed, they
were allowed to lie in bed till six on the feast
itself instead of getting up at five. The same
custom was observed on 29 June, St. Peter and
St. Paul. Thecustom of the Eton and Winchester
match being always held on one of those two
feast days is perhaps ultimately due to this cus-
tom. On 7 July, the Translation of St. Thomas
(Becket), there was also a bonfire, but no verses.
The Feast of Relics in July was another whole
play day. Election time began then, and there
was a holiday if the provost or one of the posers
sent his hood into hall. On 29 August the
after-dinner siesta, and merenda or bevers, ceased.
The Nativity of the Virgin, 8 September, was a
great feast, on which day Long Chamber was
swept. On a day in September, fixed by the
master, on petition from the boys in Latin verses
on the joys of harvest and the pains of the hard
winter coming, the school went a-nutting, and
presents of the spoil were given to the master and
fellows. On All Souls Day (2 November) they
still in Malim's time said prayers in memory of
benefactors, and made vulguses (vulgaria) on
99 ' Censor Aulae et Anagnostes.' I give the Win-
chester translation of ' Anagnostes.' The ' ostiarius '
was the prefect ' in course ' for the day, who sat near
the door to supervise the going in and out of school.
Maxwell Lyte leaves the word unexplained.
immortality — substitutes for the prolonged ser-
vices and requiems of pre-Reformation days.
' On St. Hugh the bishop's day,' says Malim,
' there used at Eton to be an election of a bishop
Nicholas (episcopi Nihilensis}™ but the custom has
fallen into abeyance. Formerly the boy-bishop
was thought a noble person, and at his election a
learned and laudable exercise was celebrated at
Eton to give strength and agility to their wits.'
At Eton, as at Winchester, the boy-bishop was
directed by the statutes to perform divine service
on St. Nicholas's Day, 6 December, and not on
the usual day, that of the Holy Innocents. This
was probably to avoid clashing with the estab-
lished boy-bishop celebrations of the choristers of
the cathedral and of St. George's respectively.
At Eton, there being a chantry of St. Nicholas
already existing before the college was founded,
it is possible that the day was already in vogue
for the boy-bishop. It is noteworthy how Eton,
like other schools, as e.g. the Great Grammar
School at Lincoln, had turned an idle mummery
into a literary exercise, with verses in honour of
the boy-bishops, St. Hugh and St. Nicholas,
and also a sermon, much after the style of
the Terrae filius address at Oxford, for him to
preach. Originally mixed up with the boy-
bishop was the custom that on St. Andrew's Day
(30 November) the schoolmaster used to choose
the best and most appropriate stage plays, i.e.
plays of Terence or Plautus, ' which the boys
perform sometimes in public during the Christmas
holidays, not without the elegance of the games
(sc. of Rome), before a popular audience.'
' Sometimes,' Malim adds, ' the master exhibits a
story written in English (Anglice itrmone contex-
tas fabulas) with wit and humour.' Apparently
in Malim's day the practice was already being
attacked by Puritans, as he thought it necessary
to put in the defence that ' The actor's art is
one of no moment, but it cultivates, as nothing
else can, the action and appropriate gestures and
movements of the body necessary to orators.''
So that already at Eton the object of the school
had been developed from that of producing priests
and parsons into that of educating prospective
preachers, lawyers, and statesmen.
As we saw, plays were performed at Eton by
or under Cox. In 1533 he wrote101 a copy of
Latin verses for the coronation of Anne Boleyn..
They do credit to his Latinity, but not to his
poetical faculty, being a string of dreary plati-
tudes and fulsome compliments on her beauty,
modesty, ability, and the like. In spite of his
successful career after leaving Eton, ending as it
did in a bishopric, Cox is now forgotten, while
his successor, less successful in the world,
Nicholas Udal, has become a name of fame in all
the classrooms, as ' the father of English comedy,*
182
100 See supra, p. 164.
I01Harl. MS. 6148, fol. 117.
SCHOOLS
in his play Roister Dottier, which has been
claimed as an Eton product. Unfortunately
nearly every date connected with Udal's career
has been wrongly given, and many wrong in-
ferences have been consequently drawn. His
name itself is a notable example of the vagaries
of phonetic spelling. It was really Uvedale,
Latinized by himself into Udallus, and then
adopted by him in English as Udal. But being
apparently pronounced Oovedale or Oodal it
occurs as Woodal, Wodall, and in all the other
possible variants of that form. He was one of
the Uvedales of Hampshire, the family which
became, by marriage with the heiress of the
Scures in the latter part of the I4th century,
Lords of Wickham. He was admitted scholar
of Winchester in I5I7,10* and of Corpus Christ!,
Oxford, in June I52O,101 under the name of
Owdall. Anthony Wood asserted, and all other
writers have followed him, that he went to Corpus
at the age of fourteen. As a matter of fact, he
was at least sixteen and a half at the time. The
boy undergraduate is a somewhat mythical being.
He was paid, as Wodall, as a lecturer at Corpus
in 1526-8. With the famous antiquary, Leland,
he produced ' dites and interludes ' 103* to be per-
formed in London on the occasion of Anne
Boleyn's coronation, 31 May 1533. Leland's
contributions are all in Latin ; Udal's, which
form the chief part, arc mostly in English, the
speeches being each spoken by a 'child,' 'at
Cornhill beside Leadenhall,' ' at the Conducte in
Cornhill,' and ' at the little Conducte in Cheepe.'
Both the Latin and the English compositions are
very much superior to Cox's effusion on the same
occasion. It is very probably owing to the
success of these verses that at Midsummer 1534
he became head master of Eton. In February
1533—4. he published Floures for Latine Spekynge,
selected and gathered out of Terence and the same
translated into Englysshe. Its colophon is Londoni
in aedibui Bertheleti mdxxxiii, but the dedication
* to my most sweet flock of pupils ' is dated IM
28 February 1533-4, 'from the monastery of
the monks of the order of Augustine.' This is
an ambiguous description ; there were no monks
of that order, and whether Austin friars or
Augustinian canons were meant is open to doubt.
The book was published with laudatory Latin
verses by John Leland, the antiquary, who was
then resident in London, and by Edmund
'" Kirby, Winch. Scholars, is misleading. The original
entry runs, 'Nicholaui Owdall de Sowthampton in
parochia Sancte Crucis, xij annorum in fcsto Nativitatis
Domini preterito,' i.e. Christmas 1516. His name
luggests that he was born on 6 Dec., Bishop Nicholas's
Day.
fa Fowler, Hist. C.C.C. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.).
'"• B.M. 1 8 A, Ixiv.
IM ' Nicholas Udal suavissimo discipulorum gregi
... ex coenobio monachorum ordinis Augustini
pridie Kalendas Martias, post Natale Domini, 1534.'
Jonson. Now the latter was a Winchester and
Oxford contemporary of Udal's, a scholar of
Winchester 1514 and of New College 1520.
From 1528, and perhaps a year earlier, he was
Hoitiarius at Eton, a post which he left to be-
come master of the school of St. Anthony's
Hospital, then the most famous and flourishing
school in London. Established, as we saw, at
the same time and by the same Wykehamists
who established Eton, the master's salary was
£16 a year, with the same ' diet' or commons,
livery, and other advantages as had been
originally assigned to the master of Eton, before
the reduction consequent on partial disendow-
ment. So that St. Anthony's was probably the
best scholastic appointment in the kingdom.
Now St. Anthony's Hospital and School were in
Threadncedle Street, close to Austin Friars. So
it is highly probable that Udal was usher in St.
Anthony's School under Jonson, who was two or
three years his senior, and was living next door
to the school in Austin Friars. At all events it
is quite clear that the flock of pupils to whom
the book was dedicated were not Eton scholars,
as Udal was not then master of Eton. The sugges-
tion in the Dictionary of National Biography that
the book was dedicated to Eton boys in advance is
unlikely, as in those days they seem never to have
got their masters till the place was vacant or
on the verge of vacancy. The audit book for
25 & 26 Henry VIII, i.e. Michaelmas 1533 to
Michaelmas 1534, contains the earliest record of
Mr. Nicholas Woddal, as he is called, being paid
as Informator for the last quarter of that year,
viz. from Midsummer to Michaelmas 1534. In
later years he is called Informator puerorum (' of
the children') or ludi grammaticalis or schole
grammaticalis (' of the grammar school *). It is
not until 1537-8 that he appears as Udal.
Besides his salary of j£io and £i for livery,
Udal enjoyed the petty receipts (minutis) of
8;. 4</. for otiti, 2s. 8d. for laundress, 2s. for
candles for his chamber, and 23;. ^d. ' for ink,
candles and other things given to the grammar
school by Dr. Lupton, provost,' whose obitt as we
have seen,10* was already celebrated on 1 1
January. The boy-bishop celebration was duly
kept, 2s. being given to the man who brought
venison (ferinam) to the provost on St. Nicholas's
feast (6 December) and \d. being paid for
' a skin of parchment to write the names of the
officers of the bishop on the feast of St. Hugh,'
1 7 November, i.e. of St. Hugh of Lincoln, the
boy martyr, on whose day, as the school was in
Lincoln diocese, instead of on 6 December, the
boy-bishop seems to have been elected. At
Christmas, too, there was a payment of 1 2s. for
a boar and of 2s. 8d. ' for making the boar's
head.' There was a play, 31. being paid for the
repair of the dresses of the players at Christmas,
See tufra, p. 173.
183
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
and is. 4.d, to a servant of the Dean of Windsor
for bringing his master's clothes for the players.
The payment for repair of the players' dresses
recurs every year at this time, except in 1536-
This is to be accounted for by the boys being
away at ' Heggeley ' (? Hedgerley), probably on
account of the plague at Eton ; for 6d. was paid
for a hogshead — and gd. for the bringing of it —
'to carry drink to the boys at Heggeley,' while
payments were made to Spensar, the costs for
cleaning the boys' inn (hospitium) there, and 2s.
for keys and locks for the doors, and 2s. 6d. was
paid for bringing them, or some of them, to the
college on election day. The same year cakes
and ale (caakys et al) were provided for the Bishop
of Lincoln, and the queen, Jane Seymour, paid
a visit to the college, when not only were ' flyne
cakes' provided, but sherry (secke) and claret
(clarett) at is. ^d. a gallon each, and apples and
pears to the extent of 2s. 2d. The king came
on St. Bartholomew's Day (24 August), but
seems to have preferred beer with his ' caks.'
Udal has been credited with producing a play at
Braintree while vicar there, recorded in the
churchwardens' accounts for 1534 as a play of
' Placy Dacy alias St. Ewestacy ' i.e. ' Placidas
alias Sir Eustace.' But Udal did not become
vicar of Braintree till 27 September 1538. On
i October I538108 'Nicholas Uvedale, professor
of the liberal arts, informator and schoolmaster of
Eton,' was licensed to hold the vicarage of Brain-
tree, ' with other benefices,' without personal
residence. So it is not very probable that he ever
went to Braintree or produced any plays there.
In 1538, however, the accounts of Thomas
Cromwell,107 the Lord Privy Seal, include a pay-
ment for ' Woodall, the scholemaster of Eton,
to playing before my lord, £5.' Presumably he
brought a troupe of boys with him. In that
year also he published a second edition of his
Flowers of Terence for Eton boys.
The account of Thomas Tusser of his experi-
ence at the hands of Udal, though oft quoted, is
too picturesque not to be quoted once more.
Tusser began life as a chorister of St. Paul's.
From Powles I went to Aeton sent,
To learn straightwayes the Latin phrase ;
Where fifty three stripes given to me at once I had ;
For fault but small or none at all
It came to pass thus beat I was ;
See, Udall, see, the mercy of thee to mee, poor lad.
If Cox was a greater beater than this he must
have been great indeed. Udal's reign of the rod
at Eton was brought to an abrupt conclusion by
his being brought up before the Privy Council,108
14 March 1540-1, for 'being of counsel with'
two of the boys, Thomas Cheney, a relation of
the Lord Treasurer of the Household, and
106 Pat. 30 Hen. VIII, pt. vi, m. 17.
107 L. and P. Hen. 7111, xiv (2), 334.
108 Pnc. P.O. viii, 152.
Thomas Hoorde, for stealing some silver images
and chapel ornaments. He then confessed to a
much more scandalous offence with Cheney and
was sent to the Marshalsea Prison. He tried,
but failed, to get restored to Eton. Attempts
have been made to whitewash him. But his
own confession, and an abject letter of repentance
and promises of amendment addressed probably
to Wriothesley, a Hampshire man, and no doubt
a family friend, cannot be got over. From the
letter it would seem that he was a bad school-
master as well as an immoral one, since he puts for-
ward amongst other things 'myn honest chaunge
from vice to vertue, from prodigalitee to frugall
lyving, from negligence of teachyng to assiduitee,
from play to studie, from lightnes to gravitee.'
Unfortunately the account for 1541-2 is missing.
The last mention of Udal at Eton is in 1542—3,
when, after the bursar had ridden up to London
to the master (i.e. the provost) ' for the matter
of Udall,' Udal was paid '53*. ifd. in full satis-
faction of his salary in arrears and other things
due to him while he was teaching the children ';
but as on the other side of the account appears
an item of ' 6oj. received from Dr. Coxe for
Udall's debts,' it would not appear that any
money passed to Udal. He maintained himself
by translating in 1 542 Erasmus's Apophthegms into
English and divers other works. He seems to
have been made to resign his living at Braintree,
a successor being appointed 14 December 1544.
He purged himself, however, by composing the
Answer to the articles of the commoners of Devon-
shire and Cornwall when they rose in rebellion,
bloodily put down by the first lord of the house
of Russell in the summer of 1549, against the
First Prayer Book of Edward VI. Udal, as an
English author, evidently wrote 1M con amore
against the Cornishmen, who, because ' certen of
us understand no English, . . . utterly refusid this
new English,' demanded the old service in Latin,
and the calling in of the Bible and all other
books of Scripture in English, ' for we be in-
formed that otherwise the clergy shall not of long
time confound the heretics.' He was rewarded
by being made a canon of Windsor, 14 December
1551. On 5 January ' after the common reckoning
1552 ' (i.e. I55I-2),110 he published a translation
of Erasmus's Paraphrases of the gospels, himself
translating the first three, while St. John was
being translated by the Princess Mary, till she
fell sick and handed her work over to Dr. Malet.
The work was done at the suggestion and ex-
pense of the Dowager Queen Katharine, in
whose charge Mary was, and the connexion
with Mary afterwards stood Udal in good stead
109 Pocock, Troubles of the Prayer Book of 1 549
(Camden Soc. new ser. 37), 141, 193.
110 The publication of the second volume, done by
Miles Coverdale, in June 1552, shows that the date,
'after the common reckoning January 1552,' was
according to the modern use, i.e. 1551—2 not 1552-3.
184
SCHOOLS
In June and September 1553 nl ' Mr. Nicholas
Uvedale ' was paid at the rate of ^13 6s. 8d. a
year as ' scolemaster to Mr. Edward Courtney,
beinge within the Tower of London, by virtue
of the Kings Majesty's Warrant.' At Queen
Mary's entry into London he produced ' dities
and interludes' for which he received her thanks.
It was probably either on this occasion or at the
Christmas following that the play of Roister
Doisttr was produced. For it was in January
1553, i.e. 1554, that Thomas Wilson, master
of St. Katharine's Hospital by the Tower, pro-
duced the third edition of The Rule of Reason,
which contains, while the two earlier editions
published in 1551 and 1552 respectively do not
contain, a long quotation from Roister Doister.
It gives under the heading of ' ambiguitie,' as
' an example of such doubtful writing whiche,
by reason of poincting, maie have double sense
and contrarie meaning,' the letter ' taken out of
an intrelude made by Nicholas Vdal,' which
Ralph Roister procured a scrivener to compose
for him, asking Christian Custance, the heroine,
to marry him. Roister's emissary read it
Sweete mistrcssc, where as I love you nothing at all,
Regarding your substance and richnesse chicfe of all,
and so on ; whereas it was meant to read
Sweete mistresse, whereas I love you, (nothing at all
Regarding your substance and richnesse,) chicfe of all,
For your personage, beautie, demeanour and wit.
The play was entered at Stationers' Hall, when
printed- in 1566, and only one copy is known,
which was given to Eton by an old Etonian in
1 8 1 8. As the title-page is pone the only evi-
dence of its authorship is Wilson's quotation.
Wilson being an Etonian, it has been argued
that his quotation was a reminiscence of his
Eton days and that the play was written for and
first performed by Eton boys. But the occur-
rence of the quotation first in the edition of
1554, and its absence in the previous editions of
1551 and 1552, coupled with the facts that
there is nothing in the play to suggest any con-
nexion with boys, that the scene is laid in
London and among London citizens and is
essentially a London play — points ignored by
Maxwell Lyte (1899 edition) and the Dictionary
of National Biography — appear to furnish an irre-
sistible argument that Roister Doister first
appeared in 1553, and therefore could not have
been written at Eton or for Eton boys. On
6 March 1553-4 Udal was given by Gardiner,
Bishop of Winchester, the living of Calbourne in
the Isle of Wight. It has hitherto been alleged lu
that in 1554 he was made head master of West-
minster School, which, as is not generally known,
was founded by Henry VIII as part of the
foundation of the cathedral church of West-
111 Trereljan Paf>. (Caraden Soc. 84), ii, 31, 33.
'" Cf. Diet. Nat. Blag.
minster, on the dissolution of the abbey in 1 540 ;
the only previous school in connexion with the
abbey being an almonry or charity school in the
subalmonry of the monastery for some 24 boys,
which began with some two or three about
1356. It has been supposed that Udal was
the last master of the Cathedral Grammar School,
which he is alleged to have resigned and the
school to have been suppressed on the re-erection
of the abbey 7 September, and the return of
monks to it 21 November 1556. It is, how-
ever, now certain us* that Udal was not master in
1554, and that he did not resign but died in
office, and that the school was not suppressed
in 1556. In the will of Stephen Gardiner,
Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor,
dated 8 November I555,u* there is a bequest of
40 marks (£28 13*. 4^.) 'to Nicholas Udale, my
scolemaister ; ' which is sufficient proof that
Udal was not then at Westminster. In what
sense he was Gardiner's schoolmaster it is diffi-
cult to guess. He was not head master or usher
of Winchester College. The Winchester Al-
monry School, which corresponded to that of
Westminster, came to an end with the dissolu-
tion of the monastery. The old High School,
or City Grammar School, which, under the im-
mediate control of the bishop, existed ages before
Winchester College, last appeared as a going
concern in the appointment of a master, who
bore the same name as the present dean, in
i488,11Sa and the schoolhouse was let in 1529-30
at 5/. a year. It is just possible that Gardiner
revived it and appointed Udal master. However
that may be, the Act Book of the Westminster
Chapter established by Henry VIII, among admis-
sions of petty or minor canons, scholars and
almsmen, contains the following entry : — ' Scole-
master. Mr. Udale was admitted to be scole-
master 1 6 December anno 1555.' The entry
is crossed out by a line drawn through it, prob-
ably as being considered out of place. The last
chapter order is dated 6 March 1555—6, but
leases were granted as late as 24 September 1556.
The parish register of St. Margaret's, Westmin-
ster, contains under ' Burials in December anno
Domini 1556,' ' 1 1 die Katerine Woddall.' ' 23
die Nicholas Yevedale." Whether Katherine
was Udal's wife, or some relation or not, it is
certain that Nicholas Yevedale is Nicholas Uve-
dale or Udal. For in the one and only extant
account of the cellarer of the revived monas-
tery for the year ending Michaelmas 4 and 5
Philip and Mary, i.e. 1556, under 'fees and
lu* Mr. G. Russell Barker, who has for »ome year*
been accumulating materials for the history of West-
minster School, first mentioned this. I am indebted
to the dean, the Very Rev. J. Armttagc Robinson, for
references and recourse to the abbey muniments which
prove it.
111 P.C.C. 3 Noode*. Proved 25 Jan. 1557.
'"• y.C.H. Hanti, ii, 256.
185 24
A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
wages' is a payment of ' cash to Thomas Notte,
usher (hippodidasculo) of the boys, £6 I Of., and
to the scholars called grammar children (Sco/as-
ticis vocatis le Grammer ckilderri}, of £63 6s. 8d.,
showing that the school was still going on, but
that Udal's place as head master had not been
filled up. These payments are for half a year.
But next year there were a master and usher and
the full tale of scholars.
An account of John Moulton, the receiver-
general of the abbey, of payments to be made
for the last year of Philip and Mary, i.e.
I557-8,114 shows under the heading of 'fees
and wages granted to certain persons by letters
patent of the monastery for life,' to John Passey,
schoolmaster (pedagogi) of Westminster yearly,
£20, and Richard Spencer,114 usher (subpeda-
gogi) yearly, ^15, while the 'master of the
choristers' received jCiO. Under 'wages and
salaries without letters patent continued accord-
ing to the form of the foundation and erection
established by Henry VIII,' is the payment of
'40 grammar boys, £133 (>s. 8d., and 10 chor-
ister boys singing in the choir, ,£33 6s. 8dS i.e.
£3 6s. 8d. for each scholar and chorister. This
appears to be conclusive proof that Udal had a
successor, and that the school went on and was
only re-enacted, not re-established, by Queen
Elizabeth's charter refounding the collegiate
church on 21 May 1560. No doubt there were
under Udal and under his predecessors town
boys as well as the 40 scholars.
Udal's successor as head master of Eton was
' Tyndall,' according to Maxwell Lyte's list.
He was no doubt Henry Tyndall, M.A. Oxford
1516-17, and B.D. 5 June 1526. A fellow of
Merton, his stay of only a year may perhaps be
accounted for by his desire to return to Merton,
of which he was elected warden in 1544.
Smyth, who followed in 1541, was probably
Nicholas Smyth, a Buckinghamshire boy from
Fenny Stratford, scholar of Winchester 1536, of
New College 1541, B.A. 1545. He held office
with first Alphyn or Alphild as usher, and then
John Fuller, who, like himself, was of Winches-
ter (1537) and New College (1540). Smyth re-
turned to New College in 1545. He became
a fellow of Eton in 1554, and died rector of
Petworth. At Lady Day 1545 another Wyke-
hamist succeeded, Robert Cater, a Berkshire boy
from Newbury, scholar of Winchester 1526, of
New College 1 5 3 1 , M. A. 1 1 June 1 5 3 9. He was
the last representative of the mother college in the
capacity of head master of Eton. He died in
office i January 1 546-7, and was buried in Eton
Chapel with an inscription which, in view of the
false quantity in the second line and the bad
114 Westm. Abbey Mun. 33194.
II4a He was probably Richard Spenser, scholar of
Winchester, 1543, and of New College, 1549, fellow
1551-3 ; Kirby, Winchester Scholars.
scansion of the third,116 we may hope was
either not written by him, or was miscopied by
the person who recorded it. William Barker,
who filled the gap, was a demy and then fellow
of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was master
when Eton was